By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net 

IMMIGRATION Minister Elsworth Johnson has defended the government’s decision to grant over 100 work permits to Mexican construction workers who entered the country last week to work at the Baker’s Bay Golf & Ocean Club resort in Abaco.

Their arrival comes at a time when thousands of Bahamian workers are being laid off due to the economic uncertainty brought on by the COVID-19 crisis.

Branding the move as “a slap in the face” to qualified Bahamians who are in need of jobs, Abaco resident Cay Mills said many on the storm-impacted island are “highly” upset about the situation.

“Everybody is so upset about it here,” he told The Tribune yesterday. “The question is, could it have happened in Mexico? Would they have accepted Bahamians?”

“The problem here is housing and if they could provide housing to (more than 100 Mexicans) or however many they are, shouldn’t they have done the same for Bahamians? And it’s a lot of qualified Bahamians in this country who would’ve love to come and work, especially persons who have been let off from Baha Mar and elsewhere,” Mr Mills said.

Photos and videos showing the arrival of the Mexicans in the country were circulated on social media last week, with some locals questioning why the government allowed the resort to bring in foreign workers given the country’s high unemployment rate. Labour officials have previously said the country’s unemployment rate could be as high as 40 percent.

Defending the move in a statement on Friday, Mr Johnson explained after Hurricane Dorian in early September, Baker’s Bay developers had expressed to government officials they wanted to bring in foreign workers to assist with reconstruction efforts at the exclusive resort.

He said resort officials had initially applied for as many as 500 work permits, but the government only approved 135 permits based on its mandate to ensure that Bahamians are given top priority for employment opportunities.

“All work permit applicants are to facilitate technical works, whose skill sets would also be shared with Bahamian workforce,” Mr Johnson said.

“The vision of the developer is to bring the project back to a global standard and it is their goal to have up to 1,400 persons employed with vast majority of whom being Bahamians. Presently, there are 420 Bahamians employed on the project.”

In Friday’s statement, Mr Johnson also confirmed that all Mexicans who arrived in the country had tested negative for COVID-19. This came after top health officials expressed uncertainty about the test status of the workers during a Ministry of Health press conference on Thursday.

However, after Thursday’s press conference, The Tribune spoke to Bahamasair Chairman Tommy Turnquest, who assured that workers had produced negative COVID-19 tests from an accredited lab upon arrival.

“Every one of the 134 persons from Mexico was in possession of their Ministry of Health travel visa and each presented authorities with a negative COVID-19 tests result,” Mr Johnson added.

“The government of The Bahamas remains committed to ensuring that Bahamians are afforded every employment opportunity.”