By NEIL HARTNELL
Tribune Business Editor
nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
A Cabinet Minister yesterday branded the number of foreign construction workers in this nation as “completely unacceptable”, arguing that economic growth and investments were not translating into Bahamian jobs.
Emphasising that he was not xenophobic, Khaalis Rolle, minister of state for investments, said the near 28,000 work permits issued annually by the Government almost matched the 31,000-plus Bahamians who were unemployed.
Addressing the National Conclave of Bahamas Chambers of Commerce, Mr Rolle said this indicated there should be sufficient job opportunities available for all Bahamians who wanted to work.
He added that the Bahamas needed to investigate why there was “a negative correlation” between economic growth and major investment projects on one hand, and Bahamians being able to access available job opportunities.
“The Bahamas doesn’t have an unemployment problem,” Mr Rolle said. “There are sufficient jobs available for every Bahamian citizen who should or wants to have a job.
“We have close to 28,000 work permits issued to non-Bahamians. We have almost the same number of people unemployed as work permits issued.
“The economy is growing and jobs support that,” he added, “but there is a negative correlation between what is taking place in that area and Bahamians getting access to all these jobs.
“We have to find out what is driving that. We need to make a determination why Bahamians are not accessing all the jobs available.”
Many observers will likely argue that there are not enough sufficiently qualified Bahamians available to fill specific, specialist and high-end roles, with this nation simply not big enough to meet all its labour needs.
They will also say that every industrialised country also relies on imported labour, and point to the continued education system failure to turn out enough qualified graduates.
Still, Mr Rolle added: “Walk along the Cable Beach strip in the evening, and I’m not a xenophobe or anything, but the number of foreign construction workers in the Bahamas in 2015 is completely unacceptable.”
Baha Mar was forced under the terms of its financing agreement with the China Export-Import Bank to hire China State Construction as its main contractor, and employ Chinese labour as the majority, but Mr Rolle said the Bahamas should have performed an assessment of its likely future construction labour/skills needs after the Crystal Palace was built in the 1980s.
When the first Atlantis phases were built in the 1990s, Mr Rolle said foreign workers matched or exceeded the number of Bahamians on the job site.
Labelling the Crystal Palace as “an oversight”, and Atlantis as ‘a mistake” when it came to Bahamian construction employment, Mr Rolle then said: “In 2015 we’re building a $3.5 billion project on Cable Beach, and the numbers are worse than in the 1980s and 1990s.
“That should be cause for concern..... If we don’t have these frank discussions, we may be building 10 years from now another $3.5 billion project......... and we may not have any workers on the construction site.”
Comments
Economist 9 years ago
That's probably about the number of Bahamians who are now unemployable because they graduated High School without English or math BGCSE"s at grade 'D' or above.
Stupidity 9 years ago
What a moron Khaalis Rolle is, does he really believe that the unemployed Bahamians that equal the foreign work permits could do the job on hand or any such development. If his retarded Government could only educate the kids of tomorrow we might not need foreign workers, or not so many but the PLP once again have let the country down.
Stupidity 9 years ago
and while your at it, fix the crime situation before we dont have a Bahamas !!
newcitizen 9 years ago
Mr Rolle fails to see that many of these unemployed Bahamians lack the skills to perform in the work place. Even in construction, workers need a good education. They require the ability to read drawings, do basic math, and understand safety concerns. He seems to be forgetting the fact that companies pay huge premiums to foreign workers, in terms of work permit fees, living expenses for foreigners, higher wages due to skills shortages. Why would a company pay all this extra money if they could save and just hire locally? The answer is because they can't.
If he wants to see more Bahamian construction workers then they need to develop a proper apprenticeship program in this country for trades. They need to educate these unemployed works so that they can gain the required skills. They are called skilled trades for a reason.
We don't have an unemployment problem, we have an education problem.
The_Oracle 9 years ago
Yet they want Foreign direct investment, but have totally bargained away any leverage the county might have had, through "giveaways and Concessions" which contradict their long standing "policies" Like retail, having created the habit and expectation of Sales and discounts, the county cannot easily claw back the value lost (given away).
ohdrap4 9 years ago
And how many of these permits are issued to teachers? The educational system is just about 80% guyanese. They work for cheap and go month to month after 2 contracts-- ie no retirement liability.
They will also stand in a classroom and teach a subject they have no knowledge of.
You get what you pay for in education.
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