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Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) - Guyana (RATIFICATION: 1966)

The Committee notes with regret that no report has been received from the Government. It hopes that a report will be supplied for examination by the Committee at its next session and that it will contain full information on the following matters raised in its previous direct request:

1. The Committee has previously referred to information provided by the Government according to which the Guyana National Service is a uniformed, paramilitary organization whose aims and objectives are among others to increase national production, develop the hinterland, produce new values, attitudes and discipline so as to create the New Guyana Man, provide the vanguard to the socialist revolution, defend the nation. It includes the Pioneer Corps, the Young Brigade and National Corps, the New Opportunity Corps and the Special Service Corps. The Government indicated that participation or service in the Guyana National Service was voluntary and that disciplinary procedures similar to those of a paramilitary organization were applicable. The Government provided a copy of the National Service Act, 1942 (Chapter 15:02), under which service is obligatory, in indicating that it had been adopted in 1942 to meet an emergency situation during the war and did not govern the existing national service.

The Committee noted the Government's information in its report for the period ending June 1992 that it is still not in a position to provide the texts establishing and governing the Guyana National Service. The Committee recalls that it has been requesting the Government for a considerable number of years to provide a copy of the provisions governing the national service as in existence. It expresses the firm hope that the Government will provide the texts in question with its next report.

2. Since a number of years the Committee has also been requesting the Government to supply copies of laws and regulations governing the service in the armed forces for commissioned and non-commissioned ranks, in particular with regard to the length of contractual periods which are required upon completion of training and on terms of resignation from the force. The Government indicated previously that career personnel of the armed forces are contracted for periods of three years and that additional periods may be required in relation to the cost and length of the training received. The Committee again requests the Government to provide copies of the provisions governing the terms of service of these personnel.

3. The Committee has previously noted the Government's information that judges and magistrates like any officers in the public service are free to leave the service by giving the required notice. The Committee, recalling that it has been asking the Government for a number of years to send a copy of the provisions governing conditions of service in the public service, again expresses the hope that the Government will send the required texts with its next report.

4. The Committee took note of the model contractual arrangement (county of Demarara) between the Government and a student to whom a scholarship is granted, which the Government has sent with its report. The Committee noted that the student agrees inter alia to report to the Public Service Ministry during the long vacation period, if so requested, and to carry out such tasks as may be assigned to him (clause 6v); to accept employment with the Government for a continuous period at such remuneration as the Government may determine (clause 6vii); to refund to the Government, in case of breach, the scholarship, other incidental expenses with a charge of 12 per cent. The Committee would appreciate receiving information on the ratio existing between the number of years of training received at the Government's expense and the length of continuous period of service normally required. It also asks the Government to provide information on the kind of tasks required from students during their holidays.

5. The Committee noted that under section 24 of the Education Act (Chapter 39:01) every child attending an industrial school may be employed in the vicinity of the school during prescribed hours in agricultural pursuits of any plantation or land or in a workshop. The Committee noted previously the Government's indication that agriculture forms part of the school curriculum as a practical subject. The Committee again requests the Government to provide a copy of the documents relating to the school curricula of these schools for the current year.