China Harbour raps Paulwell

Paulwell, who represents East Kingston and Port Royal, where the Palisadoes road is located, told a parliamentary committee on Wednesday that Chinese workers were being employed to do manual labour on the project.

"... In the wake of a minister's pledge to the people (of Jamaica) that this work is going to create hundreds of jobs, and for the Chinese to come to be doing manual labour, it is going to create problems in this country," Paulwell said during the sitting of the Public Admini-stration and Appropriations Committee.

He also said: "There is a serious problem that is about to explode, and when I say explode on the Palisadoes, I mean an explosion of no mean order."

However, CHEC, in a media release yesterday evening, said, "It does not have any Chinese labourers doing manual labour on any of its projects in Jamaica.

"As a matter of fact, the company has not been authorised to employ any Chinese workers in that capacity," CHEC said.

disappointing rantings

China Harbour characterised Paulwell's warning as "rantings", and expressed disappointment at his recent concerns after lauding the project "when it was announced and since its commencement".

The release said 62 Jamaican labourers have been employed on the Palisadoes project, compared to 11 skilled Chinese workers, including engineers who oversee the project. The company said fewer than 120 Chinese are working on construction projects, including the Jamaica Development Infrastructure Programme (JDIP).

Qiwu Yang, deputy manager of CHEC, dismissed as erroneous Paulwell's claims that 1,000 Chinese are being brought in to work.

"There is absolutely no plan to contract any additional skilled Chinese workers. We currently have approximately 6,000 Jamaicans contracted under the JDIP to work on our projects, including Palisadoes," Yang said.

"These accusations are baseless and offensive to China Harbour, a company that is internationally renowned and has numerous major projects all across the world," he added.

"We find Mr Paulwell's comments irresponsible and his statements and accusations baseless. China Harbour is committed to Jamaica and the development of Jamaica and enhancement of its people. We have provided continued employment for many and will be contracting even more persons as other projects begin," Yang added.