Georgetown, GINA, January 29, 2004

The Ministry of Labour, Human Services and Social Security has preformed satisfactorily and managed to achieve its goals in 2003 said Minister within the Ministry of Labour, Human Services and Social Security, Bibi Shadick at a press conference today.
Giving an update on the performance of the various departments in her Ministry, Shadick said the Night Shelter and the Difficult Circumstances Unit had also performed well over the past year.
The Ministry has been able to fill vacancies in the Probation and Welfare Departments and the Cooperatives Department. She is hoping that the new staffing capacity will reduce problems in the Adoption Department.
The Ministry will also delink the administrative component of this department giving officers more time to deal with court and other related matters.
Listed among the Ministry’s accomplishments are the establishing of the Visiting Committee to monitor Orphanages, rehabilitation work to Block Three at the Palms and improving the pension distribution system.
Minister Shadick said she is aware of persons attempting to set up orphanages “for less than honest reasons”, and her Ministry is prepared to stop such behaviour.
One of the primary focuses this year will be the violence and children programme operated between her Ministry and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
An Advisory Board chaired by Minister Shadick, will monitor this programme. She said that Guyana is the first country to begin such a project. A team from Belize will be visiting Guyana next month to see how the programme is being executed.
This year, rehabilitation work will continue on Block Two at the Palms, the Mahaica Children’s Home and the Guyana Women’s Leadership Institute (GWLI).
As regards assistance for the public, the Ministry is fine-tuning arrangements for waivers in water rates, especially for pensioners. Social workers at the Ministry have already collected applications.
The Ministry of Human Services has begun work on pension books for 2004. Shadick said staff members at the Ministry are already working on the booklets which will be ready for distribution early February. They anticipate that the distribution will be completed by March.
And it seems that the new security features on vouchers are working. She said no one was found trying to defraud the system and hopes 2004 will prove to be as uneventful as last year.
All pensioners will also receive the five percent across the board payment made last December. Their pensions will increase from $1,820 to $1,910.