Foreigners with work permits will in future be expected to train Bahamian replacements by the time their permits expire, the government said yesterday.
Work permits with fixed time limits are part of a proposal by the Ministry of Immigration. Labour and Training to monitor compliance with the government’s Bahamianisation policy.
“The government is reviewing its work permit policy to determine the prudence of limiting the period of time that one individual may hold a work permit,” said a press release.
It said the ministry “will implement a procedure designed to monitor compliance of companies with the government’s Bahamianisation policy.
Should a work permit be approved because there are no, or not enough, Bahamians available, then the employer must identify a Bahamian to train to fill the vacancy by the end of the term of the work permit, it added.
“The Bahamianisation policy was introduced during the early 1970s and this administration, like previous administrations, has guarded and implemented the tenets of that policy,” the ministry said.
Immigration Minister Shane Gibson said the fashioning of the country’s work permit policy in this manner would be following a model already used by other countries in the region; such as Bermuda and the Cayman Islands, which have economies like the Bahamas. “Once you are on a work permit for, let’s say, five years, you would have to spend a number of years outside of the country and then you can come back again.
“That’s not to say we would not be issuing work permits for those positions, it just means that a company would have to bring in another person to do that job,” he said.
Since being appointed Minister of Immigration, Mr Gibson said he has met with dozens of businesses, most of which have provided him with their company’s training policy.
The Bahamianisation policy dictates that if a Bahamian is qualified for a job vacancy for which a work permit is being sought, and all other things are equal, then that Bahamian will get the job rather than a non-Bahamian.
However, the ministry pointed out that there are one or two exceptions to the policy. For example, work permits are approved for owners’ representatives.
“This administration is taking all the steps that are necessary to ensure that Bahamians are trained and equipped as the Bahamas strives to remain competitive and keep pace with the demands of employers of the 21st century,” the ministry said.
By RUPERT MISSICK Jr, Chief Reporter, The Tribune
