THE TRIBUNE is the newspaper to which Immigration Minister Fred Mitchell refers in his comments to the House.
The Tribune’s application for the renewal of the permit of one of its editors with special technical skills was turned down on December 5, 2012. The rejection was appealed.
On February 13, the Immigration Department agreed to approve the permit provided: “You are requested to hire a Bahamian under-study for this position and inform this department of the individual’s name. Further, within four weeks from the date of this letter, the under-study must make an appointment to see the Acting Director, Mr William Pratt at 502-0510.”
Mrs Carron agreed to pay the fee of $9,000 for the permit, but refused to agree government’s demand that it should have any say in the hiring or vetting of staff at The Tribune.
“In my opinion,” she wrote Mr Mitchell, “government is crossing the line by dictating the hiring and vetting of staff in the private sector. The owner of a business has the sole right to establish his business standards, and decide the qualifications, experience, desirability and work ethic required for staff to meet those standards. Government should have no say in this.”
The full correspondence between Immigration and the publisher will be printed in tomorrow’s Tribune with Mrs Carron’s comments in her editorial column on page 4.
Comments
IloveBahamas 11 years, 8 months ago
I am sorry Mrs Carron while I can understand your stance in that as a private business owner you should have the sole right to decide who you want to hire based on your business' needed skills and experience level. However it is also the Government of any country's responsibility to put the citizens of that country health, well being and security first and foremost. In that regard a government should not allow companies/private business owners to constantly and consistently recruit foreign labor to fulfill its labor needs. Instead it should be a partnership between the government and private companies to work together at acquiring the skills needed at home. This can mean investing in transferring skills necessary to someone who has the foundation (educational/technical background) etc or there are many other avenues to doing this. I think it is a good start to forcing companies to think and act in that manner.
Ironvelvet 11 years, 8 months ago
I think this is a very dangerous enterprise that the government is partaking in. This is why we have so many Bahamians in positions that they are unqualified for and the business and level of service is diminished. An attitude is fostered that I don't need to get the right qualifications, that I just need to flash my passport.
If a Bahamian wants the job then go get qualified to do the job, i.e. go to get the proper training in a school/internship. This is a global practice nationwide. How do you suppose a Bahamian living abroad gets a job over a native citizen? They only get the job because they have skills that a native citizen does not possess, because they have to pay for them to get a work permit too.
It is not up to a private business to hire someone to train them to do the job. That is a waste of time and money. If I hire a person to do a job, I hire them to do the job, not for me and them to do it.
GO GET QUALIFIED BAHAMIANS!!! Stop expecting to get a job just because you are a Bahamian.
turtlepond 11 years, 8 months ago
well ironvelvet when bahamians get qualified like myself..all the jobs are taken up by foreign workers.
jackbnimble 11 years, 8 months ago
I agree Turtlepond. That's why the "qualified" Bahamian don't come home because the foreigners have eaten up all the best jobs. This is a very good incentive by this Government. It will force the private entities to do better.
TalRussell 11 years, 8 months ago
Me belly is go'in be jumping up and down for some time still, if it has to stick around for The Tribune owner to convince minister Fred to play the "job matchmaker's role for foreigners?"
I still have memories of then DPM Brent standing up in the House to brag about the big increase in work permit fees from year to year since they were returned to power from 2007 to 2012.
Maybe once the Bahamians and foreigners alike come to realize that under minister Fred there will be no more work permits granted for domestics and gardeners, the quicker they will start treating Bahamian workers with respect. No longer will they be able to hold the "threat of deportation" over the heads of their "underpaid" Haitian, Jamaican, Spanish and Filipino foreign domestic helpers.
Let's watch to see if Fred's cabinet colleagues also have the balls to stand up for out of paychecks Bahamians? I already know some who won't.
http://tribune242.com/users/photos/2013…
Rontom 11 years, 8 months ago
And it's the govt choice to grant work permit, Tribune. Bahamas for Bahamians.
holymoly 10 years ago
This is a very interesting article that provides quality information! Hiring an under-study person at this magazine is great as in this way they encourage people to work. Moreover even if he is an under-study person, there are some aspects that the employer has taken in account before hiring that person. For instance, he definitely did a background check on http://www.allisontaylor.com/">http://www.allisontaylor.com before hiring that person. What is more, even if you are under-study you should definitely have the necessary skills and experience for a certain job.
zinos85 9 years, 8 months ago
The government should not interfere in such matters and let the newspaper owners take the final decision. However, now one do not have to go through pages after pages of morning newspaper in a hurry to get the latest headlines, they can find the information they need online. For instance, if you need special information about the African-American community then you should explore http://www.eurweb.com/">http://www.eurweb.com/.
leonardo85 9 years, 7 months ago
They should sort out this issue as soon as they could without creating any kind of problem. However, these days most newspapers have online presence which is a big help for the readers. They can now check the news of the day online at places like http://www.dailydissident.com/">http://www.dailydissident.com/ without having to waste their time.
karina 8 years, 9 months ago
Sometimes issues like this become too controversial, it would be better if they take steps to keep the people informed about these things. Every newspaper should consider discussing controversial matters like http://www.blacksneoconsiraqwar.com/vid…">black victimization to build public opinion.
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