Labour Minister, Joseph Hamilton, on Tuesday, urged the Board of Directors and the management of the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) to take steps necessary to resuscitate and recapitalise its Port Mourant, East-Berbice Corentyne training centre.
In so doing, Hamilton committed to making resources available at the level of the Board of Industrial Training (BIT) to assist the sugar corporation in these efforts.
“The training centre must be returned to what it used to be… presently it is a shadow of itself,” he said.
In a direct charge to the management, which he met with at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC) on a range of issues, Hamilton said, “recapitalise GuySuCo training centre and make it a place it used to be… make it useful at the highest technical level,” he said.
The minister warned that should Guyanese fail to take technical and vocational training seriously, foreigners will come and benefit from jobs simply because they are certified in their skill. He said a lot of training happens locally but little is done to certify persons through those training.
Among his recommendations is for more highly qualified instructors to be hired and better stipends are offered to them. Minister Hamilton said the training centre can also serve as a repair shop where persons in training can make money while learning.
GuySuCo’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Sasenarine Singh, welcomed the offer.
He said he will definitely be seeking out the assistance of BIT. The GuySuCo Training Centre was established on May 5, 1957. By 2013, more than 3,000 aspiring engineers had passed through the institution.
The certified training programme offers courses in engineering such as industrial electrical insulation, an instrumentation programme, automation, an agricultural mechanic programme and welding and fabrication, among others.
