News that 52 had registered for technical/vocational courses executed by Trinidad’s MIC Institute of Technology is (see Friday paper) should not go unnoticed. Along with other job training programmes, this offers participants an opportunity to get a certified professional education.
In the current rebuilding phase, skilled workers particularly in the construction sector are understandably at a premium. It’s one thing to complain about bringing in foreign labour, but quite another to provide it locally in the necessary quantity and quality so as not to stagnate the crucial recovery process.
Especially getting the major resorts and consequently the dominant stayover tourism industry fully back on line fast is of such paramount importance that using craftsmen from abroad seems unavoidable. That does not mean rules should be broken, but it’s the reality on the ground.
At the same time, preparing as many residents as possible to fill some of these vacancies must continue unabated, because there will be plenty of work not just in 2018, but for several years to come. Persons who fit the bill should not hesitate to “board that ship.”
