Minister of Labour Joseph Hamilton
He explained that there are limited personnel, especially in the hinterland regions, who are certified in these hard-skills, and are readily employable in their communities.
Minister Hamilton encouraged residents to take full advantage of the ministry’s training programmes which are offered free of cost. He explained that trainees will be given a stipend while trainers will be selected directly from their area, allowing more money to be circulated in the region.
He said government will continue working to ensure persons are trained in the required skills for community development.
“We have to manufacture by the hundreds, welders and fabricators, building contractors, electrical installation people, who are qualified and certified and recognised and accredited,” the minister said.
Minister Hamilton said it is necessary to train Guyanese for the construction sector as more job opportunities will arise in the future.
“You cannot discuss building hundreds of houses, and we’re not discussing at the same time training plumbers by the dozens, training building contractors, and that’s what we do, we have a training called building construction,” the minister noted.
The Labour Minister lamented the difficulty of sourcing employees in Guyana to operate forklifts, crane, and other such machines to meet the needs of the oil and gas industry.
He said BIT will fill the gap as it will train persons to operate such equipment.
Additionally, as Guyana continues the development of the tourism industry, more programmes, such as food preparation and cake decoration are being offered by BIT. The skills for job training programme will also be launched in Regions Two, Five, Six and Ten. (DPI)
