Labour office, industrial training officer for Kwakwani – Minister Hamilton

Minister of Labour, Hon. Joseph Hamilton says a Labour Office will be erected at Kwakwani and a Board of Industrial Training (BIT) Officer appointed to ensure training and labour needs in the Upper Demerara-Berbice (Region Ten) community are met.

The Minister made the statements during a meeting with residents at the Kwakwani Workers Club as part of Thursday’s Cabinet outreach to the Region.

“Training is essential, but… on-the-job safety must be top on the list. A Labour Office will be erected in Kwakwani to deal with any issues. This will relieve the burden of residents travelling to Georgetown,” he said

Minister Hamilton urged the workers to observe the Occupational Safety and Health guidelines.

In the meantime, Minister Hamilton says, “residents here can put together a plan for the training of youths and present it to BIT so as to train the youths in order for them to generate an income.”

Several new training opportunities are expected to be launched this year through the BIT. This includes ICT training and the training and retraining of retirees.

“We already appointed a BIT Officer in Linden and one will be appointed in Kwakwani to service this community. Our aim at the Ministry is to train persons within the community rather than to bring in persons to work from another region,” he said.

Minister Hamilton said BIT is working to expand its programmes and they will be region and community-specific.

It was noted that since Kwakwani is primarily a mining and forestry area, steps could be taken to introduce heavy-duty operation training, if the BIT officer determines it is among the community’s labour needs.