System Detects 200 Child Labour Cases
Through the establishment of a Labour Inspection System on Child Labour within the Ministry for Employment, Productivity and Industrial Relation, a total of 200 child labour cases were looked into. Minister Jone Usamate stated this in his Ministerial Statement in Parliament yesterday.
He said this was under the Action Programme on Child Labour in Fiji.
“From 2011, my ministry has investigated a total of 200 Child Labour cases to date and has withdrawn these children and returned them to the various schools through the efforts of the interagency committee on eradication of Child Labour,” he said.
“From 2011 to date, the ministry has trained school teachers, Police officers, sugar cane farmers, Fiji Sugar Corporation field officers, community leaders and labour inspectors on Child Labour Awareness and Monitoring Programmes.”
He said the Labour Standard Services was responsible for the enforcement and withdrawal of children from Child Labour and through the International Labour Organisation TACKLE project the ministry implemented a Child Labour database that captured and profiles cases of Child Labour and withdrawal of children from Child Labour and returned to school.
Mr Usamate further revealed that the ministry also successfully prosecuted an employer for the employment of a child.
The employer was convicted and fined $8000 in 2014.
He said the programme also noted that the cases of Child Labour were not only about working children, but also about the right of a child to be in school.
Edited by Percy Kean
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