Grand Bahama Seeing Influx Of Expatriate Workers

James Rolle, Assistant Director of Immigration, told The Bahama Journal that the island is seeing an influx of expatriate workers.

"The trend that I see from my seat is associated more with the demands of businesses," he said.

"We’re seeing not so much the trend associated with the movement of people, as we would associate those trends with the movement of Haitians here. The trends are that businesses are seeking certain skills from individuals."

Particularly in Grand Bahama, Mr. Rolle said, "there is a diverse sector."

Labourers are being requested from abroad because there is a need for highly skilled workers for work that is not traditionally performed in the Bahamas, he said.

A major employer of expatriate workers is the Grand Bahama Shipyard. Joseph Darville, Director of Work Force Development, spoke candidly to The Bahama Journal about the need to employ foreign workers.

"Grand Bahama is touted as being an industrial capital of the Bahamas," he said.

"Nothing much was done by the government to bring about that reality to properly train persons for work, which requires highly skilled labourers, for example, in marine mechanics, marine electricians, people who could do underwater welding, etc.

"What we have had to do is bring in massive amounts of expatriate workers."

He said that in the short period of time of the shipyard, there has not been sufficient time or sufficient individuals interested in being skilled workers in these particular areas, so the shipyard has had to find workers from elswhere.

"On an average the shipyard requires 600 skilled workers on a weekly or monthly basis. At a peak level it can go up to 800 workers in the workforce, and a little more than 200 of those are regularly employed Bahamians," he said.

"Out of the Bahamian 200 workers employed, about 110 are skilled workers."

Mr. Darville said that the highly skilled labour that is required could not be taken for granted.

"These jobs include technical skills used for repairing massive tankers and ships, and in both incidences both have to be worked on by persons who are certified," he said.

"Otherwise these ships could not come here to get the type of work done because they carry precious cargo, whether it is oil or human beings and you can’t have a dime store type of person working on these types of ships."

Mr. Darville listed a mixed-company of male skilled labourers at the shipyard, coming from places like Romania, Scotland, England, Germany, Philippines, Poland, South Africa and Bulgaria.

Fortunately for his company, he said there are sufficient workers out there. Because of the huge numbers of persons who are skilled in the workforce around the world, Mr Darville said that there is no problem for the shipyard to find skilled workers in a matter of a few days.

These workers come in on very short notice and the Department of Immigration allows them to work on a temporary work permit after appropriate procedures are followed.

Mr. Darville insisted that not one single worker is brought in illegally.

He said that there might be expatriates who are recruited to work in the Bahamas un-necessarily.

"Because many immigration and labour officers are uninformed, they could very easily allow companies to bring in individuals who could really be found in the Bahamas or who could be trained in a short time to perform," said Mr Darville.

Government officials insist on training to be performed among the Bahamian workforce when expatriates must be recruited, Mr. Darville clarified.

Highly skilled labourers have to go through apprenticeship programmes and require certification.

The shipyard’s budget for training in the apprenticeship programme at the Bahamas Technical and Vocational Institute, including supplies and materials, is $700,000. One hundred thousand dollars is expended for on-the-job training of Bahamians.

"We pour millions of dollars into the local economy in terms of salaries to the Bahamian workforce, in terms of housing for the expatriates owned by Bahamians, from food in the local areas," said Mr Darville.