By AVA TURNQUEST

Tribune Chief Reporter

aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

WORKERS in the cruise ship industry have raised concerns about what they believe are unfair hiring practices on privately-owned islands.

Labour Director Robert Farquharson confirmed to The Tribune on Friday that his department had received complaints and had conducted investigations into similar claims in the past.

It has been alleged that operations on private islands are largely unregulated by the government to the detriment of Bahamian workers, who are being increasingly displaced for foreign labour to do menial jobs.

The workers requested anonymity as they claim that past complainants have been terminated or snubbed by the industry.

In a letter sent to Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis, dated September 6, the current state of affairs was described as a “slap in the face” to unemployed Bahamians.

Signed the Organisation Helping Bahamas (OHB), it read: “The reality is that all the cruise lines are massively increasing their infrastructure that has the potential to increase Bahamian entrepreneurship or be to the detriment of the Bahamian worker in the tourism business.

“With cruise ship business operating their own tours,” the letter continued, “it reduces the income to the Bahamian government due to no business license fees or VAT being paid.”

The Tribune also spoke with several other workers, who were not associated with the OHB, but held similar views.

One worker lamented that 75 per cent of the country’s tourists were brought in by cruise lines, but only 12 per cent of tourism dollars came from cruise ship passengers.

“They do take advantage of our system,” the worker said, “and any one that tries to speak out about it, they will pick you off. The backlash from the cruise lines is as such that if you spoke up about anything, they cancel your contracts.”