The Tribune

LABOUR and Immigration Minister Keith Bell expressed optimism about the country’s job situation, saying more people are going back to work.

“We are very optimistic (in) the way in which the numbers are going in terms of persons going back to work, both in the private sector and, of course, in the government sector and when I speak of the government sector I’m talking in terms of you know, because of the COVID, we’ve had a number of government institutions work the shift system and so we see now where the greater the population that is becoming more and more vaccinated the more persons are actually going back to work,” he said yesterday.

Earlier this month, Mr Bell told a local daily that he estimated the unemployment rate to be between 25 to 30 percent, citing the pandemic as part of the reason so many remain unemployed.

Mr Bell, speaking in his capacity as minister of immigration, also reported there were two recent interceptions of undocumented migrants. In one incident, 28 Cuban migrants were apprehended, he said.

He said a vessel was also apprehended with 44 people on board in a suspected human smuggling operation.

“One of particular note is when we would’ve intercepted a yacht with 44 persons on board,” the minister stated.

An investigation is underway to determine where the migrants came from and where they were housed.

A Bahamian man who was the suspected smuggler is in custody.

The vessel had Haitians, Colombians, Ecuadorians, Jamaicans, Romanians and one Turkish adult male on board. Minors were on board as well and one woman was pregnant.