The acceleration of government programmes and private sector initiatives that create jobs for Guyanese who are equipped and prepared to do them can ease the pressure on charitable organizations and serve to direct more assistance to those individuals and families who are unable, for one reason or another to work for a living, according to Chairman of the Private Sector Commission (PSC) Captain Gerry Gouveia.
Speaking with Stabroek Business last Thursday shortly after launching the 2008 Salvation Army Christmas Appeal, Gouveia said that while charitable organizations like the Salvation Army have their place in poor countries like Guyana, creating job opportunities for as many people as possible ought to be one of the goals of both the public and private sectors.
“At the end of the day and despite all of the good work that is done by the Salvation Army and other charitable organizations to bring a measure of material relief to the lives who need it, we need to focus on initiatives like job-creation which can help people to help themselves and to reduce their dependence on charity,” Gouveia said.
And according to Gouveia while the Salvation Army allows many people to engage in “bursts of generosity associated with Christmas,” providing people with the means to support themselves and their families all year round is a far more noble and worthwhile objective. “Our best response is one that seeks to help remove that cycle of poverty and the need to resort to charity by creating jobs. The more jobs that we can provide the fewer people, particularly children, will need to depend on the Salvation Army. This would mean that charitable organizations can focus more on helping people in extreme need,” Gouveia said.
Gouveia said that his involvement with the Salvation Army’s Christmas Appeal had been influenced by the fact that it was “about children” and about providing “what, in many cases, was the only opportunity through the year to bring a sense of joy to their lives.” He said that he believed that the private sector had a duty to contribute to creating a sense of security in the lives of the nation’s children, declaring that we can do so by ensuring that their parents receive every opportunity to work and to earn. “The significance of the private sector reposes in much more than the wealth that it creates for entrepreneurs. The private sector, particularly in a country like ours, is valued for its contribution to job-creation and to making a difference in the lives of people who are employed in private enterprise.”
And according to the PSC Chairman unemployment and the attendant lack of regular income among parents was one factor that drove children to the streets, led to abuse and contributed to child labour.
“When parents are not in a position to provide for their children’s material needs the children are obviously more vulnerable to becoming part of the child labour pool. Quite apart from the laws governing child labour, I believe that there are important moral and humanitarian issues at stake here. There is no question that children should be allowed to enjoy their childhood without having to embrace adult responsibilities like having to work. In my view it really makes no sense in passing laws against child labour and moralizing about the issue except we can parallel these initiatives with more job opportunities for parents so that children can become less vulnerable to that kind of exploitation,” Gouveia said.
