Labour Ministry fails workers

Dear Editor,

Guyana is approaching one year since Keoma Griffith was handed the position of Minister of Labour and Manpower Planning—an appointment widely viewed not as a recognition of competence, but as a political reward for loyalty. In this time, the country has seen no meaningful improvement in labour enforcement, no strengthening of workplace safety, and no evidence of a Ministry willing to confront the private interests aligned with the PPP administration. Instead, Guyanese workers continue to die in preventable workplace accidents while the Minister offers little more than excuses, photo ops, and empty promises.

The Leader of the Opposition has already brought to light allegations that Griffith was used by the PPP administration to pressure grieving Mahdia families into signing documents and accepting a pittance as compensation for the horrific dorm fire tragedy.^[1] These families, already shattered by the loss of their children, were pressured rather than supported—at a time when compassion, transparency, and independent legal guidance should have been guaranteed. Concerns have also been raised about Griffith’s association with Mrs. Alfonso, one of the individuals appointed by President Irfaan Ali to the Commission of Inquiry into the MV Barima tragedy.^[2] These connections deepen public unease about the impartiality of the Minister’s leadership, especially in matters involving vulnerable citizens.

The Ministry of Labour is legally responsible for enforcing occupational safety and health standards across all workplaces, including private construction companies, industrial yards, mining operations, and manufacturing sites. OSH officers should be stationed in every region conducting regular inspections, especially in high-risk sectors where workers face daily exposure to hazardous conditions. Whether these inspections are being done—and how frequently—remains unclear, given the alarming number of fatalities recorded this year.

Under Minister Griffith, enforcement has collapsed into silence. Companies with clear and repeated safety violations continue to operate freely, shielded by political connections. This failure is not merely administrative negligence; it is a dangerous abandonment of statutory duty, leaving workers vulnerable, unprotected, and at the mercy of employers who place profit above human life.

Guyana has witnessed multiple workplace fatalities over the years—young men crushed under containers, workers falling from unsafe scaffolding, workers electrocuted, labourers exposed to hazardous conditions without proper protective equipment, miners dying in unstable pits. According to the Ministry of Labour’s own statistics, Guyana recorded 13 workplace fatalities and 64 non-fatal incidents between January and April 2026 alone.^[3] These tragedies are not “accidents”; they are the direct result of companies refusing to follow basic safety regulations and a Ministry that refuses to enforce the law.

Guyana is also witnessing a disturbing rise in worker exploitation, particularly among foreign nationals, who are often overworked, underpaid, threatened, and denied basic protections. Many of these workers are afraid to speak out, fearing retaliation or deportation. The death of the Indian national at the EKAA HRIM quarry—reportedly from being overworked—^[4]highlights how vulnerable foreign workers are when the Ministry refuses to intervene. The country would never have known about this death had the Opposition Leader not intervened, freed the workers who were being held against their will, and exposed the fatality that the company and the authorities seemed content to keep hidden. Since then, the public has received no update on the deceased worker. Was his body returned to his family in India? What were the autopsy results? Why has the Ministry not provided a single detail? And how many other cases like this exist—cases the public never hears about because they are not reported, investigated, or disclosed by the Ministry of Labour?

The public has waited for action. To charge negligent companies. To impose penalties. To demonstrate that workers’ lives matter. Yet nothing happens. No charges. No sanctions. No deterrence. Families bury their loved ones while the Ministry issues statements of “concern” and quietly moves on.

Minister Griffith frequently claims that penalties will be implemented, that enforcement is coming, that companies will be held accountable. But these pronouncements never materialize. They are recycled talking points—empty words designed to pacify public outrage without upsetting the PPP’s network of friends, families, and favourites in the private sector.

This pattern mirrors the broader PPP governance style: loud announcements, no action; bold promises, no delivery; public relations over public protection.

The construction sector is one of the most dangerous in Guyana, and it is dominated by companies with deep political ties. A Labour Minister who cannot confront negligent companies is not a Labour Minister. He is a political placeholder.

The Ministry of Labour must be an institution of enforcement, impartiality, and protection. It must stand between workers and unsafe employers. It must act decisively when companies violate the law. It must ensure that every worker—regardless of employer, ethnicity, or political affiliation—is protected under Guyana’s labour laws.

Under Minister Griffith, none of this is happening.

Instead, Guyana is left with a Ministry that talks about penalties but never imposes them, promises enforcement but never delivers it.

Guyanese workers deserve a Labour Minister who understands that governance is not only about loyalty to his party—it is about responsibility to the people, the very people whose taxes provide the salary he enjoys. They deserve a Ministry that enforces the law without fear or favour. They deserve leadership that values human life over political convenience.

Until Minister Griffith demonstrates the courage to act, the Ministry of Labour will remain a hollow institution—present in name, absent in duty—and Guyana’s workers will continue to pay the price for this dangerous and unacceptable failure of governance.

References

1. Opposition mobilises lawyers, warns families against signing compensation documents in MV Barima tragedy - Kaieteur News — kaieteurnewsonline.com ↩
2. Justice Godfrey Smith to lead Commission of Inquiry into MV Barima tragedy - News Room Guyana — newsroom.gy ↩
3. 13 dead, dozens injured in workplace incidents since January - Guyana Times — guyanatimesgy.com ↩
4. Guyana Probes Indian-owned Quarry After Workers Allege Passport Seizure, Wage Abuse - The Wire — m.thewire.in ↩