In this December 2006 photo, Christopher Wedderburn (left) accepts a gift from Emanuel Njuko during a Christmas treat for Montego Bay's street children at the St. James Police headquarters. Officials are concerned about a rise in the number of working children. - File

Dionne Rose, Staff Reporter

She is only 12 years old and already she is being taught her mother's trade. She could be seen leaning against the light post in the sweltering sun, as she peddled a variety of fruits along Orange Street in downtown Kingston.

It was Friday and Abigailhad missed school for the day. But, according to her mother who appeared to be in her mid-30s, she could not afford to send her that day.

"Mi just carry her (to the market) so she can see what it is like," she said, with downcast eyes as if embarrassed.

Just chains away, in St. William Grant Park, two other boys, about ages 10 and eight, could be seen equipped with windscreen wipers, ready to continue what they had already started earlier in the morning.

Their mother, who sat nearby, also manning her wares, was very upset that the boys were not carrying out her instruction. When The Sunday Gleaner asked why they were not in school, one of them said: "Me go school. But me just never go today."

Abigail and the two other boys are among those children who are forced to earn a living ona daily basis on the streets of Jamaica. While the number of street and working children in Jamaica has not increased since the last survey done five years ago, it still remains a concern for the Ministry of Labour.

Economic activity

According to a survey done by the Statistical Institute of Jamaica in collaboration with the Inter-national Labour Organisation (ILO)/ International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPECL) and the United Nation's Children Fund (UNICEF), an estimated 16,240 children undertook some form of economic activity in 2002.

While no survey has been done since, Marva Ximinnies, director of IPECL, says the number has not increased. She supports her statement with a 2006 UNICEF report.

The 2006 'Situation Analysis on Excluded Children In Jamaica' indicates that 16,240 children, ages five to 17, were involved in "economic activities" in 2004, the same as reported in 2002.

But Ximinnies tells The Sunday Gleaner the ministry is concerned that there has not been a reduction.

"There is no comfort in the fact that we haven't had great reduc-tion, but the fact is that it is still a priority area for the ministry and we have been given budgetary support and that is an indication of the Government's commitment to deal with the problem," she says. She, however, points out that while the numbers are not increasing, there is public awareness island-wide that children should not be engaged in certain types of work.

Ximinnies says it is also an indication that the intervention programmes put in place by the Government and non-governmental organisations, such as Children First and Western Society for the Upliftment of Children, were successful. She says a little over 1,300 were given direct support.

But, she says, the fact that the numbers have not declined can be attributed to the inability of the labour inspectors in the ministry to conduct inspection in the informal sector.

Intervention programme

Ximinnies points out that the new Occupational Health andSafety Act would empower them to do so.

She says the ministry has been continuing its intervention pro-gramme through small workshops and sensitisation programmes to inform the public. The IPEC director says the ministry has commenced preparation work for the intervention of time-bound programmes to deal with the prevention, withdrawal and rehabilitation of children engaged in child labour.

While the total elimination of child labour is a long-term goal in many countries, certain forms of child labour must be confronted immediately, says the ILO. Nearly three quarters of working children are engaged in the worst forms of child labour, including trafficking, armed conflict, slavery, sexual exploitation and hazardous work.

Name changed.

dionne.rose@gleanerjm.com