Child labour exists in TT

In tiny pockets of TT there are isolated instances of child labour, especially in poverty-stricken areas, says Minister of Labour and Small Enterprise Development Jennifer Baptiste-Primus.

She was speaking yesterday at the ministry’s Child Labour Art Competition prize-giving at the Art Society, Jamaica Boulevard, Federation Park.

She said what makes the situation interesting, yet pitiful, is that children who are the victims are led to believe they are taken out of school to work long hours during harvest time to reap crops on agricultural lands, or tending to pigs, goats and cows, to ensure sufficient money is made to earn a plate of food.

This should never be a child’s role in a family, she said. "While at some point in our lives we may be faced with trying times, we must be cognizant that the legal age for employment of young people in TT is 16 years old.

“Not 15 and a half or 15 and three quarter .but 16, and even at this age there are guiding principles which govern the nature, type of work and hours under which a 16-year-old child can be employed.”