FORMER Immigration Director William Pratt.
By NICO SCAVELLA
Tribune Staff Reporter
nscavella@tribunemedia.net
OVER 9,000 work permits were issued by the government in 2015, more than 30 per cent of which were issued to Haitian nationals, according to the latest immigration statistics.
The figures, issued on Friday by senior officials at the Department of Statistics, showed that a total of 9,208 permits were issued from January to December, 2015. Of that number, 3,360 - or 36 per cent - were issued to Haitians, according to the figures.
Jamaican nationals were issued 1,075 or 11 per cent of the permits issued, while Philippine nationals received 1,033 or 11 per cent of permits issued.
Chinese nationals received 652 of the total number of work permits issued, while Americans received 629 work permits.
Of the 9,208 work permits issued, 44 per cent were granted to workers in the "Elementary Occupational" group, which officials said includes "unskilled workers" such as gardeners, maids and housekeepers. And of that group, 65 per cent of people receiving work permits were Haitian nationals, officials said.
The figures show that skilled Agricultural, Forestry and Fishery workers were granted 949 (or 10 per cent) of the total permits issued. Some 80 per cent of this group were Haitians, officials said.
This was followed by Professionals, Science and Engineering Professionals with 927 (or 10 per cent) of the total work permits issued. Of that grouping, Americans received 144 (1.5 per cent) of work permits issued, while Jamaicans received 142 or 1.5 per cent of work permits issued.
The least amount of work permits granted, 22 (or 0.2 per cent), were issued to people in the Plant and Machine Operators and Assemblers category, according to the statistics.
The industry receiving the majority of work permits in 2015 was the Accommodation and Food Services (Hotel) Industry with 1,144 - or 12 per cent - of those issued. Some 80 per cent of this group were males, officials said.
This was followed by the Construction industry, which received 689 or 7 per cent of the total permits, 96 per cent of which were granted to males.
The Manufacturing industry was issued 539 or 5 per cent of work permits issued, 97 per cent of which were to males.
The statistics were revealed during a press conference at the Department of Statistics on Friday afternoon.
Director of Immigration William Pratt suggested that the 2015 immigration statistics are "similar to previous years", adding that the majority of work permits are typically given to people in the "unskilled" category.
Nonetheless, he said the Department of Immigration's main focus is to further "Bahamianise" the workforce, particularly with regards to skilled areas of work.
"Our job is to Bahamianise," he said. "That's the department policy, to Bahamianise. We work closely with the Department of Labour and different bodies, even the health bodies, the food, the hotel training college, we work closely with them, so anyone applying for work permit in those areas, we try to get their views before the board makes a decision, because our job is to Bahamianise the positions as much as possible."
Comments
bogart 8 years, 3 months ago
Obvious that the majority of the Bahamian population who are poor or majority of middle class - cannot afford to employ gardeners, maids or housekeepers. Given that these same poor or middle class who are the majority of the population and paying the same VAT as those 44% of 9,208 who hire foreign maids, gardeners, housekeepers displacing 'qualified' Bahamians, then it should be only fitting to balance the building of the nation that those who for some special reason, choose foreign over their own should be made to pay extra, especially when these foreign workers, their children, parents have same equal access to the VAT paying Bahamians who pay for schools, hospital, loans to build and repair roads, running the govt etc. INCOME TAX for the rich desperately needed.
banker 8 years, 3 months ago
I deal with the rich. This is what I hear from my clients. The Haitians are hired for their work ethic. Bahamians will not work for the wages that Haitians work for, and if they are hired, they do not work as hard as the Haitians. Jamaicans & Filipinos are hired for inside the house -- stuff from the house doesn't go missing as it does when Bahamians are hired. One of my clients tells an interesting story of how a Bahamian applied for a job, and a start date was agreed to. The job applicant then asked immediately for his two weeks holiday commencing on the start date, and he wanted a cheque for holiday pay.
SP 8 years, 3 months ago
................ Your "rich" are spinning Ryan Lochte's style lies ..................
Banker, I too am an employer, and over decades have hired Jamaicans, Haitians and Bahamians. A properly treated, well paid Bahamian is by far the better employee than any Jamaican or Haitian ever will be!
You sit back and allow a so called rich foreigner to sell you a stupid "interesting story" and are fool enough to repeat such nonsense denigrating your own country and people?
I am disgusted at people like you that allow the "rich" to degrade our people for their own selfish benefit.
alfalfa 8 years, 3 months ago
Banker, are you serious? You are categorizing Bahamians as being lazy and thieves. And this is based on what your "clients" say. This is a terrible indictment of a people based on opinions of probably wealthy expats and the " so called upper class" Bahamians, who don't give a horses a-s about anyone but themselves. I am a Bahamian and take exception to this generalization. It is ludicrous to think that all Haitian, Jamaican and Filipino workers are more industrious and honest than Bahamians. The reality of it is, the majority of these workers are paid slave wages, and most are not enrolled in NIB, Health , or any other benefit plan. The domestic workers also sometime steal (and sometimes perform duties other than housekeeping for the man of the house). Anything to keep a job and get their foot in the Country's door. I have employed a Bahamian gardener and housekeeper for the past eight years, and am quite satisfied in the way they work, and are so convinced of their honesty that they have the keys to my house. Are these the lazy thieves that you speak about? Most wealthy expats think that all Bahamians are beneath their class level, and only socialize with the rich ones because it enhances their chances of staying here, in the land of "lazy thieves". Get real..
banker 8 years, 3 months ago
You can sputter and spit all you want. I just report the facts. The low productivity of the Bahamian worker is documented by the IDBC, the ILO and by every major Key Productivity Indicator study by the World Bank. Take a look at how many employees are at a petrol station. Take a look at how many store clerks there are standing around in any business. If you evaluate employee to dollar turnover ratios, Bahamian business rank above the mean, medial and modal averages in the Caricom countries. Tourism sector analysis reports low worker productivity is an endemic, systemic problem in the Bahamas, and one of the challenges facing organic growth in the SME business demographic.
It is hilarious that my comment sparks outrage, and yet it is THE BAHAMIANS who keep hiring more unskilled works than the rich expats living here. Can anyone tell me why? It is the Bahamians at the root cause of the high numbers. Guess how many maids the Attorney General has and why they are not Bahamian?
I'll say it again -- as an educated Bahamian patriot, it pains me to say that on the whole, blue collar Bahamians are less productive than their counterparts from other countries, and they are less honest.
I have a Jamaican maid Anna come in once a week to clean my apartment. I pay her $60 for about 4 hours work. She has a key. She is a legal migrant. I went through a string of maids, and everything from money, to tie clips, CDs, to food, to office supplies to my Tommy Hilfiger socks were disappearing until Anna came along.
SP 8 years, 3 months ago
... Your Singular Circumstance Is Not Relative to "Every" Bahamian ...
Absolute steaming horse manure!
Expats and trendy Bahamians predominately hire foreign domestic labour. The Attorney General is a well known prima-donna witch that couldn't keep Bahamians employed at any rate due to her nasty disposition.
My experience with a string of live in Jamaican care givers was opposite to yours and totally disastrous! Finally a wonderful Bahamian was found for the position that is more than I could ever have hoped for.
The moral is, it a totally unfair, and a poor misconception for you to characterize a "people" by the acts of a few!
All Jamaicans are not honest, law abiding people, just as all Bahamians are not dishonest. It is ludicrous, irresponsible and asinine to suggest otherwise.
SP 8 years, 3 months ago
............. Unconscionable To Issue Work Permits For Jobs Bahamians Can Do ...............
With an historical unemployment level especially in blue collar sectors, it is totally unacceptable that we are issuing work permits for jobs Bahamians qualify for.
Bahamas is shooting itself in the head as these expats repatriate earnings to care for families and invest in home countries, deplete foreign reserves and contribute very little to the local economy.
Bringing in unskilled Haitians, low skilled Asians, Latinos and others should be made totally illigal same as it is in the Philippines, and Philippine government sponsored one Month training programs model should be made available for Bahamians to quickly fill these blue collar positions and repay government for training after job placements.
Again, same as it is in the Philippines! ........ https://youtu.be/WSD5nCs30SA
Philippines earns 14% of GDP from remittances of workers in foreign countries. Why haven't successive governments duplicated Philippines one Month domestic training programs and made literally 1,000's of these blue collar jobs now occupied by Asians, Latinos and West Indians available to starving Bahamians?
http://globalnation.inquirer.net/19243/…
After 43 years of PLP and FNM leadership, they never once properly addressed the lack of training, or implemented minimal cost short term training programs to fill the void for low skill blue collar employees.
The need for foreign domestic and grounds workers could be 100% eliminated in 12 months providing 1000's of new jobs for newly qualified Bahamians.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02lbnzj
Bahamians have had enough of "lip service" from people standing around for photo ops, talking stupidness and throwing around useless words and phrases.
This nonsensical notion that we cannot control who employers want working around them is utter foolishness. Many countries make it illegal to bring in workers for jobs citizens can be quickly and easily trained for.
The proof that consecutive governments do not have the well being of Bahamians at heart has been all around us for decades.
SP 8 years, 3 months ago
........... PLP & FNM Are The Architects Of Bahamas Economic & Financial Crises ..............
Director of Immigration William Pratt suggested that the 2015 immigration statistics are "similar to previous years", adding that the majority of work permits are typically given to people in the "unskilled" category.
This average annual issuance of 9,208 work permits equates to 46,040 work permits being issued during the PLP 5 years in office!
Brent Symonette confirmed the FNM sold $40M in work permits. At an average of $1,500.00ea this equates to 26,666.66 non essential blue collar foreign workers entering the workforce. These foreign workers cohabitate, or are live in domestic workers, allowing them to repatriate 50% or more of earned income in US Dollars to home countries.
With an average mean income of $275.00 p.w. / $1,100.00 Monthly, each foreign worker repatriates $550.00 Monthly.
26,666.66 foreign workers repatriating $550.00ea equates to $14,666,663M USD leaving the country Monthly or $175,999,956M annually.
This huge amount of dollars leaving the financial system and local economy is the major cause of local business closures, cutbacks and bank layoffs as foreign workers do not patronize local business's, forcing banks/business's to adjust staffing due to the decrease volumes of business.
Foreign worker remittances are also a major cause of tremendous downward pressure on foreign reserves, undeniably intensifying the currant foreign reserves shortfall.
Due to massive corruption and lack of ability growing the economy to add alternative revenue streams, lack of backbone and resolve to remove non essential workers to plug the hemorrhage of foreign reserves, PLP and FNM governments will continue relying on foreign currency borrowing support to cover imports and debt servicing costs which will lead the country further down an already very slippery slope to devaluation and into further financial crises.
No one with an once of sense could possibly believe that those that brought us from a robust, buoyant & best economy in the region, to the present brink of failed state status could be remotely capable of getting us out of this mess created by them!
We must rid ourselves of these corrupt, incompetent people and asinine sweet talking political parties that led our country to this sorrowful position, decimated our country and people, and are now giving whats left to foreigners!
banker 8 years, 3 months ago
Beg to differ with your numbers. The average banking/professional/IT/engineering work permit is slightly over $10,500 dollars, excluding processing fees. That is per person. So you simply can't divide $40 million by $1500 to buttress your argument.
I'm not sure that remittances are that much of a problem to the foreign reserves. There are larger issues with the quality of the reserves and the empirical quantity. That is why a dollarized economy would eliminate the precarious position of the Bahamas.
The bottom line, is that the monolithic economy isn't serving anyone, except the political class who profit by influence, and the rest of the Bahamians are in an economic rat's cage unable to truly escape.
That being said, immigration, illegal or otherwise, is way down the scale of problems facing Bahamians.
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