Increase working hours, Rwandans urged

Labour productivity in the country will improve significantly if Rwandans increase their working hours per week, according to the Minister of Public Service and Labour Anastase Murekezi.Murekezi said more than 89 per cent of employees work less than 26 hours per week, which he said is a barrier to the nation’s development. The average working hours among workers in both formal and informal sector is 39 hours per week.“We want to make sure that Rwandans increase their working period to between 35 and 45 hours per week. Economic development comes from hard work and not anything else,” he said. Murekezi was addressing miners of Cooperative des Mines de Nyambumba et Busoro (COMINYABU) in Busoro cell, Nyambumba sector in Nyabihu district.The International Labour Organisation suggests that the average number of hours worked per week, over the number of weeks covered by any such agreement, must not exceed 48 hours.Rwanda has an estimated 280,000 employees, 85,000 of them in public service, with more than 50,000 serving as teachers.Five million Rwandans are in the age category of workers.According to Alex Rusine, the chairperson of a labour union, COTRAF, (congres du travail et de la fraternite des travailleurs), there is need to optimise work in the country.“People should find a way to work on two different contracts during day and evening; they work less hours because work is a scarce,” Rusine.He said the more emphasis should be put on the youth.Occupational hazards Meanwhile, Murekezi urged miners to ensure their safety during mineral exploitation to avoid injuries and death. The minister said although accidents are mostly unavoidable, some are avoidable.“Mines generate more money first in the country and miners are the most to benefit from it. However, miners are hurt and others die while exploiting minerals yet they would avoid such accidents,” said Murekezi.“The job you are doing is the only one you should be proud of and try your best to improve it. Employees should work hard to benefit from what they are doing,” he added.More than 960 people are reported to have died over the past six years in Rwanda due to accidents while at work and most of them are miners, the minister said, citing figures from the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda.Anna Mugabo, the director-general of labour and employment in the Ministry of Public Service and Labour, told The New Times that a ministerial order on occupation and safety was adopted in 2011.Committee to be set upMoreover, the ministry required institutions to put in place a committee of occupation and safety. In November, the ministry will supervise the election of the committees in various institutions to make it effective, according to Mugabo.A country profile document was also finalised. It studied the laws regarding occupation and safety in different sectors. This document will be sent to Cabinet next month, with the implementation plan.Meanwhile, eight sectors with specific implementation strategies due to their sensitivity include energy sector, transport, mining, hotel and hospitality, agriculture, health and construction. The COMINYABU cooperative was founded seven years ago and has been a source of income generation among members and the surrounding communities through job creation, according to Celestin Baranyeretse, the cooperative president.Baranyeretse said despite achievement the cooperative still needs modern work tools which should help them earn more.Miners want support“We are still using artisanal tools where we only use our hands in mining. This is archaic and we may be losing minerals because of poor methods. However, we don’t have money to buy such tools and we request government to help us,” he said.The cooperative, composed of over 200 members, gets more than 30 tonnes of coltan and caseterite minerals annually and its target is to increase production up to 50 tonnes this year.The minister also urged the miners against employing children in mining. “We know that mining in Rwanda still uses manual system and it affects production, we will keep advocating so that they can get basic tools such as machines to help them improve their profession while increasing production,” the minister added.Miners called for additional support in terms of tools to better benefit from the sector.