By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

The prime minister yesterday hit out at expatriate work permit holders who failed to train Bahamians to replace them, yet remained in this nation for years, for taking jobs away from locals.

Closing debate on the mid-year budget in the House of Assembly, Dr Hubert Minnis said employers would have to bring in fresh expatriate hires if work permit holders failed to train Bahamian replacements by the time their visa expires.

He also bemoaned the practice of expatriates entering The Bahamas on work permits only to ultimately establish their own businesses - some of which are in sectors purportedly reserved exclusively for Bahamian ownership - and compete against local companies.

And the prime minister pledged to crack down on the issuance of first-time work permits by insisting that these will not be issued to persons already in The Bahamas - something that has been a long-standing practice, although enforcement has been questionable. Only work permit renewals will be approved for expatriates already present within the jurisdiction.

Arguing that “succession planning” has not been entirely successful, Dr Minnis said he had also told Elsworth Johnson, the minister with responsibility for immigration, to form a “strike force” that will have among its mandate the task of detaining undocumented workers at “various job sites”.

“Bahamians who employ illegals will and must be prosecuted,” the prime minister said, adding that The Bahamas “cannot continue along as a lawless society. Jobs are first and foremost for Bahamian citizens”.

He blasted: “I find it very difficult, and I could not understand and still don’t understand to-date, where investors, bankers etc bring individuals to our shores on contracts for three or four years with commitment that they would train Bahamians to take over such jobs.

“In six years they are still here, eight years they are still here, and in nine years they are applying for residency, displacing Bahamians. I find it difficult that my nationals cannot obtain the knowledge to take over the job. Since I know that nationals can, and do, have the knowledge to take over the job, the fault must be with the trainer.

“We ought to aggressively ensure that succession planning is first and foremost and, in the absence of the individuals not properly being trained, that trainer has failed and must be replaced by a new trainer so that they do not establish foundation within our country and further take jobs away from our citizens.”

Dr Minnis said he also found it “difficult to accept” that expatriates are coming to The Bahamas on work permits, or as sub-contractors, only to create their own businesses here.

“When I look five years later these individuals establish their construction companies and compete against Bahamians for our jobs,” he added. “I am embarrassed sometimes as I walk about and see the amount of individuals that speak a different language than I do, but yet have big contracts within our country. That must stop. Bahamians first.

“But Bahamian citizens are likewise responsible. We have a responsibility to inform the government as to such activities, and we have a responsibility of not hiring individuals unless there is documentation of them being allowed to be here.”

Dr Minnis has talked tough on Immigration before, but it remains to be seen whether his address will lead to decisive action. His comments, though, tie-in with proposals by Dion Foulkes and John Pinder, respectively minister and director of labour, that employers must set-up training programmes and identify Bahamian understudies in return for work permit approvals.

“Work permits will not be obtained within our country unless they are being renewed,” the Prime Minister added. “We will do regular audits of those work permits to ensure that those work permits were issued while those individuals were out of country, and anybody discovered to be in violation of that policy, they will be dealt with accordingly.”