Guyana translates labour laws into Chinese
GEORGETOWN, Guyana – GUYANA has translated its labour laws into Chinese amid an influx of Asian companies and workers.
Labour Minister Nanda Gopaul presented the translation to the non-profit Chinese Association that serves the local community and said that should make employers more familiar with the laws.
The leader of one of the country’s biggest unions said last week that workers have been complaining about long hours, lack of pay and limited vacations. Norris Witter said employers can no longer plead ignorance of the law.
Guyana has seen a surge in the number of Chinese companies and workers over the past five years.
Government’s move to traslate its labour laws came as a Chinese state-owned company announced plans to develop a timber-processing plant for logs it harvests in the rain forest of western Guyana.
A spokesman for Bin Shan Forest Development said the plant will be part of a larger industrial park that the company will develop in Linden, the second-largest town in the South American country.
Spokesman Lun Weikang said the company expects to invest about US$500 million in the project. Weikang did not give a completion date for the project in an interview Tuesday but he said the company has begun hiring a workforce that is expected to reach 700.
Bin Shan is a division of state-owned China Forest Industry Group Company Ltd. It has a 272-,000-acre (110,000 hectare) timber concession in western Guyana.
— AP
