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Referring also to its observation on the Convention, the Committee takes note of the Government’s reports for the period ending May 1999. It notes with interest the effort made by the Government to communicate in its 1997 report information concerning the number of staff in the occupational hygiene and safety labour inspectorate as well as, for 1996, statistics on establishments subject to inspection and establishments inspected in 1996, in addition to occupational accidents broken down by degree of gravity and sector of activity. Noting that the lack of transport facilities renders it difficult to collect information on industrial accidents and cases of occupational disease, the Committee also notes a very substantial reduction in the number of inspections between 1995 and 1996 (about 80 per cent less) and refers to a previous report (1996), in which the Government indicated the shortage of transport facilities as one of the major obstacles to the effectiveness of the inspection system; the situation was aggravated by the lack of adequate public transport facilities. The Government indicated, nevertheless, that all efforts would be made to improve this situation and stated, in relation to Article 11(2), of the Convention, that reimbursement to labour inspectors of their travelling expenses was limited by budgetary resources. The Committee wishes to emphasize the need to furnish labour inspectors with the facilities necessary for the performance of their duties and therefore invites the Government to take appropriate measures to ensure that the allocation from the national budget in regard to the work of the labour inspectorate corresponds as closely as possible to the priority defined by the objectives it is pursuing. The Committee hopes that the Government will supply information on the measures taken or envisaged and the results obtained to this end. It requests the Government, in any event, to supply information on the geographical distribution of establishments subject to supervision by the labour inspection service in relation to the location of labour inspectors’ offices, as well as statistical information on the transport facilities available and the amounts allocated for reimbursement of costs incurred by inspectors in their professional travel.

The Committee hopes that the Government will be in a position to ensure that annual inspection reports, whose content includes information on the subjects set out in Article 21, will again be published and communicated within the time limits laid down in Article 20.