The Tribune

By KHRISNA RUSSELL

Deputy Chief Reporter

krussell@tribunemedia.net

SOME 1,200 people have been permanently employed as a result of the government’s Labour on the Blocks initiative, according to Department of Labour officials giving the results of its eighth job fair.

Despite notable success since its roll out, there are still many Bahamians who remain jobless.

Four hundred and fifty job seekers turned up in search of work at the CV Bethel Senior High School on Saturday, with many them hoping to make a better life for themselves.

Among them was 46-year-old Solana Rahming McGregor.

Struggling for four years with no income, Ms McGregor told The Tribune, it has been “real rough” and now its seems nothing can go right in her life.

For her, participating in the Labour on the Blocks initiative is more about regaining independence and putting an end to the financial crisis that has placed her on the edge of losing the home for which she worked hard.

“If I find a job it will be better than what it is right now,” Ms McGregor said moments after she spoke to prospective employers, adding she hoped to be hired on the spot.

“It’s really hard. Some days you don’t have anything and you know how persons go. With me having a job I can do on my own, so the things I used to do and maybe catch up on some of the things that I missed out on where the bank would stop calling me and trying to take my house. No food, it’s really hard.

“Then you going to social service they don’t want to help you. They running on with this and that it’s so unfair because if you don’t want to give me a job well feed me. You don’t give me food or you don’t help me what else is left for me to do? Either go out there and sell ma body or go and steal and no one want to do that.”

She continued: “So I came here in hopes of getting hired. I have been unemployed for about four years. It’s hard and stressful. Nothing is going right, nothing at all.”

McDonald Clarke, 25, is a slightly different in that finding work will help him to pay tuition at Bahamas Technical and Vocational Institute where he wants to complete certification in general maintenance.

“Basically I been to the job fair only trying to just get something to do for now to pay off my school fee. It’s really hard. You don’t have no one to support you. It’s just stress and pain and misery.”

While he praised the success of the initiative, Labour Minister Dion Foulkes reminded job seekers that there are jobs available.

Mr Foulkes said: “We’d like to encourage Bahamians to seek jobs and to be prepared. Training is a vital thing that we have been doing. We just completed a skills symposium, which the prime minister graciously opened for us on (last) Monday and we are focusing on closing the skills gap between what’s demanded in the private sector and what’s available in terms of skills among our workers and there is a big gap between the two.

“We are trying to close that and we are trying to fix our curriculum within the educational institutions so that the curricula is relevant to the demands of the current and future job markets.”

“We have so far processed 450 job seekers,” Mr Foulkes continued.

“It went very smoothly and we did it all in about three to four hours. I’d like to thank all of the employers that are here today. We have some 20-business establishments here today. For the first time we have the marine industry represented, we have both Aquamarine and Campbell’s Shipping here today and I am very pleased that they have come out.

“As you know the prime minister has directed that the Ministry of Labour and the Ministry of Education focus on the marine sciences and marine opportunities,” he said.

“All of the businesses here have vacancies and we have spoken to each of them and they all say that we are going to employ persons that they’ve interviewed today.

“Some said as much as up to 40, one of them (and) a beauty establishment on Bay Street said they were looking for three persons and they have already identified two persons that they are going to employ. So from as much as 40 to as little as two, this has been a major success and so I would like to thank the business community for participating,” Mr Foulkes said.