By Rhealyn C. Pojas
Reporter
Vice President and Minister of Justice Raynold Oilouch said that they are now working on modernizing the labor regulations.
In an interview with Island Times on May 14 after the swearing in of new police officers at the office of the Vice President, Oilouch said that once the new revised labor regulation becomes final, they are expecting labor workers to undergo training and to get themselves familiar with the new labor regulations.
“We have a law that was enacted by the congress, and it’s been changed so many times and there’s a regulation that has to be implemented to support the law so we’re working on the regulation to modernize it,” Oilouch said.
Oilouch said that they had also hired some personnel to work at the Labor Office to help in the processing of working permits for foreign nationals to prevent “improper…or illegal hirings”, adding that this might perhaps help “stop potential human trafficking problems from coming.”
“[I’m] just hoping that our ministry can perform its function as well and protect the public and do what it has to do for the entire people of the Republic,” Oilouch said.
Just recently, a man was convicted of trafficking Bangladeshi workers who were tricked in going to Palau for work under employment documents for jobs that turned out to be fictitious. These Bangladeshi workers were made to believe that they are going to work under company names such as United Trust Construction Co. and Island Bar Hotel which are made-up names.