Pres Ali urges youths to take advantage of “tremendous opportunities”

– encourages citizens to register for nursing, other training programmes

With several parts of Guyana buzzing with economic activities, the Guyana Government is contending that there are sufficient opportunities available for young people but they need to be proactive and go after these prospects.
This was according to President Dr Irfaan Ali during a visit to Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara) on Thursday. The Head of State told residents of De Kinderen, West Coast Demerara (WCD), who complained about unemployment among young people, that Government is prepared to provide the necessary training to pave the way for employment opportunities.
“The opportunities are there. We have tremendous opportunities there but we have to make use of the opportunities,” the Guyana Leader noted.

According to the President, several contractors carrying out major projects in the region have complained about labour shortages. It was disclosed that over 100 workers are needed in the construction sector alone.
To this end, Ali told the residents to gather a group of young people who want to work and the government will have them enrolled into a skills-development programme, if necessary, in order to get them employment ready.
“We want to help but people have to help themselves too… This is not a laid-back approach. This is an approach where everybody gotta get involved. So, if you have 25 young people in the area who are looking for the construction work, bring their names… We will get them trained and provide the training for them,” he stated.
In addition, the Head of State also urged qualified persons to sign up to be a part of the nursing and nursing aid training programmes being offered by the Government.
“We are going to train them in the nursing programme. We’re going to pay for the training and then we’re gonna employ them when they’re finished,” the President declared.

Community issues
Meanwhile, during the outreach in the community, residents also spoke of the need for recreational facilities. In his response, the Head of State said the Government will work with the council to enhance the community ground for sports and recreational activities.
He told residents that the Government would also work on drainage issues affecting the community.
“As you can see, we have already started the programme to redo all the streets in here, so all the streets are being redone. And we are working on the drainage issues.”
Meanwhile, GPL has been tasked with replacing faulty electric poles within the community by September. The residents also informed the Guyanese Leader of issues they were having with acquiring land titles and instructions were given for the relevant authorities to return to the community to address this and other matters.
President Ali was accompanied by Housing and Water Minister Collin Croal and Minister within the Public Works Ministry Deodat Indar during Thursday’s community outreaches in Region Three.
In order to address the growing need for labour due to the construction boom across the country, Vice President Dr Bharrat Jagdeo last week said the government is trying to promote labour mobility within the country to address this shortage.
“We’ve spoken to a lot of the contractors here and we’re saying ‘can’t you build facilities to keep them’ – like if someone comes from Berbice or Linden or Essequibo or Region One – so that they have decent accommodation here and then maybe on the weekend, they go back [home]. So, we’re trying to work through that problem to try to see if we can promote greater labour mobility,” he said.

Labour importation
The Vice President’s remarks come on the heels of a push by some sectors to import labour. But Jagdeo noted that while the government is allowing foreign workers to come in for certain projects, this is not being done at a scale that will disenfranchise Guyanese.
“There are a large number of people who are trying to bring in labourers. We’ve been very cautious in giving large-scale permits. They have to demonstrate a need and they have to now show that the project would be adversely affected before we give the permission,” he stressed.
Some of the large-scale projects have been given permission to import labour so as to not affect their delivery deadlines.

These include the India-funded Ogle, East Coast Demerara, to Eccles (East Bank Demerara) Bypass Road project and the new Demerara River Bridge project that is being undertaken by a Chinese contractor – China Railway and Construction Corporation (CRCC) Limited.
However, the Vice President explained that while there are labour shortages for certain skill types in Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica), this may not be the case in the other regions hence the government’s cautiousness in allowing the importation of workers.
According to Jagdeo, finding skilled labourers in areas such as plumbing, carpentry, masonry and drivers especially heavy-duty operators in Region Four is a difficult task for many contractors.
“The situation is not the same in other regions of the country. So, we don’t want to allow a large number to come here when our own people in other parts of the country still may be looking for a job. But because they don’t have the same level of economic activities in those regions, then they can’t find one as yet,” he stated.
On this note, the VP posited that Government is trying to expand the local supply of labour through aggressive training programmes through the GOAL scholarships and BIT training as well as with the massive training school that is being established at Port Mourant in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne). He added that these efforts are further bolstered with the part-time jobs’ initiative, which is not only a means for persons to earn an income but also an opportunity for them to get job training. (G-8)