The Tribune

THE National Employment and Empowerment Programme (NEEP) comes to a close today, with the government embarking on a new 52-Week Skills Empowerment Programme.

NEEP participants will be given notice pay plus any accrued vacation leave, according to a release from the Ministry of Public Service and Insurance.

Former participants who "demonstrate a willingness to work" will be invited to join this new 52-Week Skills Empowerment Programme - which is styled after the 2011 programme initiated by the Ingraham-led administration of the same name.

The now-shuttered programme was started in 2016 by the former Progressive Liberal Party administration, and faced scathing criticism from the incoming Free National Movement government.

In its release yesterday, the ministry reiterated NEEP placed individuals in government and other offices "irrespective of qualifications, suitability, interest or checks to determine whether or not they were employed at the time".

"These individuals were not officially engaged," the release continued. "They were not given any letter of employment, which means that their placement remained uncertain throughout the life of the programme.

"On July 1, 2018, the Ministry of the Public Service and National Insurance will begin a new 52-Week Skills Empowerment Programme.

The release continued: "The programme emulates the 52-Week Programme initiated by the former FNM administration in 2011. These (former NEEP participants) and new participants will officially receive letters advising the terms of their employment.

"Its objective is to ensure that by the end of the programme, individuals have obtained skills that will help them to be employable and, hopefully, employed."

The programme will be launched with soft-skills training, designed and implemented by the National Training Agency, and training will take place on New Providence, Grand Bahama, Eleuthera, Exuma, Abaco and any other Family Island with a sizeable number of participants, it read.

The release continued: "Some of the main areas of training include skills development required for patient care assistants, teachers' aides, landscaping, caregivers for the elderly and various construction trades.

"The programme will be structured to ensure that participants do not have second jobs in place of persons who have none, that participants actually exist, and that they are working."

The ministry welcomed participation from the private sector, and advised that current employees are not to be terminated due to the engagement of the 52 Week participants.