The Tribune

By DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Freeport

Reporter

dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

WORKERS at Resorts World Bimini are raising concerns over the lack of a permanent doctor and proper medical facilities in Bimini after a worker collapsed and died, and others reportedly fell ill there over the weekend.

A resort official has confirmed that a worker collapsed on the job on Thursday, and later died at the government clinic.

The deceased employee is believed to be 27-year-old Jackson McCloud, a cook at the resort’s Sabor Restaurant. There were reports from employees that two workers also took ill and fainted on Friday, and a third on Saturday.

When contacted by The Tribune, Michelle Malcolm, the Director of Public Affairs at Resorts World Bimini, confirmed that a male cook collapsed on the property and later died at the clinic. However, she said, she was not aware of any other employee fainting at the resort.

Hundreds of Bahamians from Grand Bahama and New Providence have been hired to work at the Bimini resort. Workers are now complaining that there is no doctor permanently stationed on the island, and that persons are unable to receive proper medical care.

“There are no proper medical facilities here where we can get proper checkups, and we don’t have a doctor on the island, so anything is bound to happen,” said an employee, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “If any medical problem or issue arises, employees would have to fly to Freeport or Nassau to see a doctor, and that should not be the case.”

The worker said that sometimes persons do not know they have a medical condition unless something happens to them.

Ms Malcolm said that a doctor is not permanently positioned on the island. “They come to the island on a rotation basis,” she told The Tribune.

Meanwhile, the worker also claimed that only management is provided medical insurance coverage by the company. “It is very costly to fly back home to see a doctor and staff has been asking for medical insurance coverage too,” the worker said. “Staff have been finding out they have diabetes, high blood pressure, and other chronic illnesses. And many people are afraid to take sick days for wage loss, and managers are upset because it causes their shift to be short.”

When asked about this, Ms Malcolm was not sure whether staff had access to medical insurance and said she would have to confirm this. She was expected to issue an official statement yesterday, but one was not received up to press time.