Dionne Rose, Parliamentary Reporter
MINISTER OF Labour and Social Security, Derrick Kellier, is seeking to assure the country that the Government is regulating the number of foreign workers on local construction projects.
Mr. Kellier was responding to concerns that in part led to a riot at the Bahia Principe hotel construction site at Pear Tree Bottom in St. Ann, on Monday.
Three persons, including a security guard, were shot. The fracas erupted as a result of long-standing disputes over wages where workers have been complaining that they were being underpaid. They also claimed that large numbers of expatriate workers from the Dominican Republic had been brought in to take over their jobs.
DEFINITE POLICY NEEDED
Opposition Leader Bruce Golding said in a statement yesterday that the Government needed to lay out a definite policy regarding the employment of foreign workers.
He also said the employment of such a large number of foreign construction workers was "unprecedented" and would continue to cause discontent unless it is fully addressed.
But yesterday Mr. Kellier dismissed this claim while making his contribution to the 2006/2007 Sectoral Debate in Gordon House.
"I have looked closely at all the applications that have come in since I have been at the ministry and, before permits are granted, I must be satisfied that the particular skills being imported are not available locally," he sais yesterday.
Yesterday, some workers were back on the job. A spokesman for the Pinero Group, which is undertaking the US$200 million construction project, confirmed there has been a phased resumption of work on some of the buildings with full resumption to take place later this week.
