'Immigration & Labour cannot be a runaway train'- Hon Wheatley
Speaking during the 2019 Budget Debate at Second Sitting of the First Session of the Fourth House of Assembly (HoA) today Thursday, April 25, 2019, Honourable Wheatley also said it was critical that the Labour Department and Immigration Department work together for the common good of the Territory and steps are already in place to ensure it happens.
Immigration Officers “Overworked & Underpaid”
Addressing the topic of Immigration, Hon Wheatley said he noticed it is “open season” at Immigration Department as everyone now seems to have a complaint against the department. Adding he wasn’t defending any unprofessional behaviour by Immigration Officers, as such is unacceptable at any level, Hon Wheatley said he wanted to defend the department because he felt the workers have been treated very badly over the years.
“Mr Speaker, you cannot have somebody working in poor conditions, overworked and underpaid. How you pay somebody $20,000 a year in this day and age and expecting them to smile. There is nothing to smile about. These are people who have to feed their families.”
Hon Wheatley said he would be addressing Immigration Department in a holistic manner and has already started receiving the files for all of the officers.
“We cannot go wrong with Immigration. These are the first set of people all our visitors see when they come to our beautiful islands. And if you are injecting this extra million into tourism to bring more people here we have to make sure our gate keepers are giving them the best welcome we can.”
Continuing his “defence” of the Department, Hon Wheatley said officers of Immigration Department work some very difficult hours, seven days a week. “They don’t close down like some people, 8:30am to 4:30pm. They work morning, noon and night, holidays, you name it. We have to make sure we take care of this Immigration Department.”
We are going to make “tough decisions” @ Labour Department
The Minister and Representative for the Ninth District also commended the work of Labour Department, saying it has managed to do a good job under the difficult circumstances; however, there are issues to be addressed.
“They are not perfect, the system isn’t perfect but we are going to take our time and fix these things. They aren’t easy decisions to make but we weren’t sent to make easy decisions. We were sent here to fix some serious problems and answer some very difficult questions and make some really tough decisions. We are not afraid. We are going to make them and we are going to fix some problems.”
“People running circles around us”
Not getting into specifics, Hon Wheatley said he is of the view some people feel believe they can manipulate the system at will.
“Some people feel they can run circles around all our laws. This is a free for all. Once you know the right people and once you know the right tricks you come in here and you take over so to speak. You do what you want, because you figure out some loopholes.”
The Minister responsible for both Immigration Department and Labour Department said persons might be studying how to take advantage of the loopholes in the laws but he is studying how to block the loopholes.
Noting that construction work in the Territory is expected to slow down at some point, Hon Wheatley said the serious question would then be about where the construction workers will go. He said Little Dix Bay Hotel and Resort, for example, plans to open later this year and is hoping to hire between 200 and 250 persons.
“But where are these 250 workers coming from? Are we going to deport 200 construction workers and bring in 200 service workers? Are we going to transition the construction workers into service workers? Are we going to train all the people who are around here to go into these fields. We have to make sure our people aren’t consistently being bypassed.”
The first term Member of the House of Assembly, Hon Wheatley, said it’s a tough decision that has to be made and some people aren’t going to like them.
“But we have to make them, because Immigration and Labour cannot be a runaway train, where things are happening and happening and you have no control over it. We have to get control over these things. Yes, we have to build the country and we can’t build the country by over selves, that we know. We have to control the growth of the country. We have to control the shape of the country and the look of the workforce.
“I don’t think the way it is going now is sustainable. It is actually quite dangerous the way it is going now. It has to be arrested,” Hon Wheatley declared.
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