The Tribune

• Gov’t working towards placing remainder of un-posted employees

• Remainder of participants undergoing training

By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

Two thirds of the remaining unposted 52 week programme workers in the public service have been successfully placed in the private sector while the remainder are undergoing training.

Clint Watson, press secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister at his weekly press briefing on Friday said: “There’s been a lot of interest about being able to place persons in the private sector. So far, there have been about 50 to 60 persons who’ve been placed.”

In November, Pia Glover-Rolle, minister of state for the public service, revealed that 233 people were approved by the former Free National Movement government for employment in July 2021, just two months before the September 16 general election. Of that number, 85 were un-posted because upon assuming office, an immediate hold was placed on those hires pending a status review.

Since the end of September, the government was working towards having these 85 un-posted workers placed in the private sector so the money would not be wasted in salaries and the country can have some utility out of these individuals.

Mr Watson added: “Now the programme started out very aggressively. It started out with a lot of interest and it’s slowed down. It’s much slower now.

“Here are the challenges we’ve arrived to. Most of the persons that could have been placed, had been placed, those are the 50 to 60 persons. Those that remain the challenge is that because they lacked skills it is hard to place them in the private sector.”

Mr Watson said improving people’s skill sets through “practical skills training” will help the remaining un-posted employees.

Glenys Hanna-Martin, Minister for Education was also at the press briefing and said: “No one is going to be sidelined. BTVI is BTVI, but it’s a vehicle. And so we need to use that vehicle for these children, for these young people. Then we will find a niche that will allow us to bring the focus that’s required for these young people.”

She continued, “It might not be BTVI. It may be other methodologies like night classes. We have to see what it is that is required. It’s a huge task. It is immense. But we want to use what we have and do what we have to, to as far as possible, ensure that children who are being disadvantaged by this whole process are able to be given an opportunity to catch up and to be and to get back on track.”