By DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Freeport Reporter

dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

IMMIGRATION Minister Alfred Sears would not specify yesterday when Immigration Director William Pratt will be replaced, saying it would be inappropriate for him to discuss specific personnel matters.

Mr Pratt, a former director of the department, is past retirement age. He was brought back to lead the institution after Keturah Ferguson, 62, retired early. The Davis administration has said his role is temporary and that they plan to replace him.

“All of the persons who are retired and extended are for a limited period of time,” Mr Sears said yesterday at a press conference in Grand Bahama. “The thing is in terms of personnel matters, it would be inappropriate for me say. But you know because it is a matter of public record what the tenure of his contract is, it has a finite time and that is a matter of public knowledge.”

Mr Sears also noted that the Department of Immigration’s succession plan ensures that serving immigration officers will fill leadership roles.

“The succession plan is not about replacing; it is to ensure that the leadership of the Department of Immigration will be occupied by serving immigration officers. That is what the succession plan is intended to do,” he said.

The Bahamas Customs Immigration and Allied Workers Union has filed a trade dispute with the Department of Labour, contesting the Davis administration’s appointment of William Pratt as director of the Department of Immigration.

Deron Brooks, BCIAWU president, has said the union secured a Supreme Court victory in 2021 after arguing that immigration officers cannot be contract workers.

Regarding concerns raised a year ago by immigration officers over a lack of promotions, the minister said addressing this issue has been a priority for his tenure.

“We set up in Nassau a special unit that comprises of persons under the leadership of the undersecretary, Sharon Pratt Rolle,” he said. He added that HR leaders from other ministries have been working since February after work hours, from 5pm to 10pm, reviewing every immigration officer’s personnel file.