By LEANDRA ROLLE
Tribune Staff Reporter
lrolle@tribunemedia.net
IMMIGRATION Minister Elsworth Johnson has defended the government’s decision to grant over 100 work permits to Mexican construction workers who entered the country last week to work at the Baker’s Bay Golf & Ocean Club resort in Abaco.
Their arrival comes at a time when thousands of Bahamian workers are being laid off due to the economic uncertainty brought on by the COVID-19 crisis.
Branding the move as “a slap in the face” to qualified Bahamians who are in need of jobs, Abaco resident Cay Mills said many on the storm-impacted island are “highly” upset about the situation.
“Everybody is so upset about it here,” he told The Tribune yesterday. “The question is, could it have happened in Mexico? Would they have accepted Bahamians?”
“The problem here is housing and if they could provide housing to (more than 100 Mexicans) or however many they are, shouldn’t they have done the same for Bahamians? And it’s a lot of qualified Bahamians in this country who would’ve love to come and work, especially persons who have been let off from Baha Mar and elsewhere,” Mr Mills said.
Photos and videos showing the arrival of the Mexicans in the country were circulated on social media last week, with some locals questioning why the government allowed the resort to bring in foreign workers given the country’s high unemployment rate. Labour officials have previously said the country’s unemployment rate could be as high as 40 percent.
Defending the move in a statement on Friday, Mr Johnson explained after Hurricane Dorian in early September, Baker’s Bay developers had expressed to government officials they wanted to bring in foreign workers to assist with reconstruction efforts at the exclusive resort.
He said resort officials had initially applied for as many as 500 work permits, but the government only approved 135 permits based on its mandate to ensure that Bahamians are given top priority for employment opportunities.
“All work permit applicants are to facilitate technical works, whose skill sets would also be shared with Bahamian workforce,” Mr Johnson said.
“The vision of the developer is to bring the project back to a global standard and it is their goal to have up to 1,400 persons employed with vast majority of whom being Bahamians. Presently, there are 420 Bahamians employed on the project.”
In Friday’s statement, Mr Johnson also confirmed that all Mexicans who arrived in the country had tested negative for COVID-19. This came after top health officials expressed uncertainty about the test status of the workers during a Ministry of Health press conference on Thursday.
However, after Thursday’s press conference, The Tribune spoke to Bahamasair Chairman Tommy Turnquest, who assured that workers had produced negative COVID-19 tests from an accredited lab upon arrival.
“Every one of the 134 persons from Mexico was in possession of their Ministry of Health travel visa and each presented authorities with a negative COVID-19 tests result,” Mr Johnson added.
“The government of The Bahamas remains committed to ensuring that Bahamians are afforded every employment opportunity.”
Comments
Linlo 4 years, 4 months ago
It would be interesting to have an itemization of the ‘skills’ that Bahamians do not have which could then be used to improve what technical training needs to be done at BTVI, etc. Additionally in keeping with the requirements of a work permit being granted, the names of each Bahamian who is ‘understudying’ the technical skills of each Mexican granted a work permit. For each work permit being granted, a Bahamian is supposed to be in training, right?
moncurcool 4 years, 4 months ago
Excellent point!!!!!!
tell_it_like_it_is 4 years, 4 months ago
Good points. Somehow though, I won't be convinced that all 130 are more skilled than Bahamians. I would wager that less than half of those who arrived had special skills and the rest are just assisting them.
The real issue is that the foreign investors want to hire the cheapest labor possible. If you want to come here and make millions in The Bahamas, the concession must be paying a bit more for Bahamian labor.
The government just gives into the demands of these investors too easily. It's a shame and a disgrace. SMH
proudloudandfnm 4 years, 4 months ago
This FNM is doing everything it can to give the PLP the next election. What made these people think they could run a government?????
Why step up if you obviously don't have the skill?????
Idiots....
thps 4 years, 4 months ago
Seems like the govt can easily put this to bed if they say: Here are the skills and the reason they were brought in for. Or even release the request letter.
Saying they asked for 400 and got 130 isn't a good answer.
Proguing 4 years, 4 months ago
Baker’s Bay is one of the few foreign investors left in the Bahamas, apart from the Chinese. But it seems that many want them to pull out, like so many others have done in the past.
mandela 4 years, 4 months ago
The thing is which country other than the Bahamas allows vast amounts of foreign workers to come into their countries to work with 40% unemployment. It is of no surprise Mr. Johnson speaks with split tongues like any snake.
oceantonguer 4 years, 4 months ago
Are you kidding? The Bahamas is the most closed economy in the world, go to any other country and you’ll find a workforce in which foreigners comprise a large part. Go to London and you’ll struggle to even find an English person these days
DEDDIE 4 years, 4 months ago
The real reason the Mexicans were brought in is because of time. I could get a Mexican to work seven days a week while most Bahamians would work five day. Thirty percent savings in time is huge when it comes to construction. The construction cost in Bakers Bay works out to $850 per square feet so money is not a major concern.
tribanon 4 years, 4 months ago
No surprise here given that Minnis has time and time again demonstrated his great love for foreigners and great disdain for Bahamians. Elsworth Johnson couldn't sound more foolish in making his lame excuses for the PM's great love of all things foreign, including the many thousands of Haitians who are illegally residing in our resource constrained country. If Minnis had his way, he and his family would be the only Bahamians in a Bahamas full of foreigners.
oceantonguer 4 years, 4 months ago
Bahamians are on the whole unproductive and poorly skilled which is why all the hardest work in this country gets done by immigrants and any employer would hire a foreigner over a Bahamian in a split second given half a chance. Our education system is a disaster and our economy is so closed it shelters our people from competition - which was fine when the hotels were full of tourists but leaves us completely exposed to one industry as no other country would ever risk
proudloudandfnm 4 years, 4 months ago
All kinds of boats from Florida were in Freeport and Abaco over the weekend.
This is just idiotic, the Bahamas is about to surge out of control. All because our PM is an idiot...
TalRussell 4 years, 4 months ago
Abaco already has its own designated Flag to fly, proudly!
As the 47th anniversary of Independence approaches, the Tribune should've directly asked the newspaper's Abaco readers with the backdrop of the Mexican National Flag flying over the Abaco's, a flag that proudly features Mr Minnis's regimes' two House elected red coats MP's, signing-off on the granting 135 work permits for the Mexcian hourly-paid labourers' if Comrade Abacoians, think anything by the one-man-band Mr. Minnis, would ever be permitted to come about by sheer happenstance?** Nod Once for Yeah, Twice for No?
Proguing 4 years, 4 months ago
Funny thing is that probably most of the "outraged" Bahamians have an Haitian working in their yard....
hrysippus 4 years, 4 months ago
The unvarnished raw truth is that the pool of available Bahamian construction worker willing to work on Guana Cay and live in dormitory accommodation is just too small to get the job done. People might make noise and say that they want a job but the reality is that they would soon quit as the working conditions would not meet their exacting requirements. Any one who disagrees with my statement almost certainly has never undertaken a huge construction job in a very small family island.
DWW 4 years, 4 months ago
All of these pundits are all completely missing the boat. You can all pontificate as much as you like. The Raw Truth from being on the ground in Abaco is that THERE IS NO WHERE TO LIVE IN ABACO. The Bahamian workforce refused to live in a man-camp with 3 square meals, room and board plus wages on top. The necessity of the situation required the labour force to live in the dormitory barge and trailers for 6 months and the Bahamains said hell no, we ain't roughin it. By allowing the mexican work force to come in it will allow the cushy front of house jobs to return come December. If we waited on the Bahamians to get it done teh front of house folks wouldn't have a job for the next 10 years. Just look at how swiftly the BPL crew is working to restore electricity. 10+ months and counting - i'm not making this up, there are homes ready to be turned on and still waiting for BPL to get down to them. I am talking at least a dozen i know personally and then many many more as well.
Silly political pundits who think you know everything need to go sit small. In case you haven't heard 90% of the residential structures were damaged or destroyed. Now give me answers to that quandary. That is useful commentary not this xenophobic BS being spouted here.
thps 4 years, 4 months ago
I think this is a bit unfair.
People can only pontificate on what they have been told. About 300k of us don't live on Abaco so its good to share your knowledge.
Now If that's the reason then they should say. People are only reacting on what they've been told. The claimed reason form the govt was simply 'special skills' and Bahamians will be trained. If its that Bahamians just don't want to handle the work conditions, pay, then all of what they said is incorrect and they shouldn't make a false claim.
If Bahamians won't tolerate the conditions then the training story and the technical skill gap is false too because they won't be there to be trained.
I think all we need is proper clarity so your info is good to know.
TalRussell 4 years, 4 months ago
A chorus red coats posting proudly to see Mexico's National Flag being flown over the Abaco's - they remain blind that some seven thousand Abaco's residents who have been humbled to stand in the lineups for handouts foodstuffs? Nod Once for Yeah there's a special elevator to hell for such mean-spirited red coats people, Twice for No?
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