Director General of SEMSAMAR Marie-Paule Bélénus Romana (second left) talks to trainees who are embarking on a technical secretarial course. (Photo Robert Luckock)
MARIGOT--With French-side construction companies inundated with reconstruction projects following the hurricanes of 2017, there is demand for a new type of competent secretary with technical expertise who will play a bigger role in construction projects than just working in an office doing light administrative tasks.
To this end the training institute La FAC in Hope Estate has begun a course called “Secretariat Technique du BTP.” The 400-hour theoretical course, 70 of which will be spent working with a construction company for the practical elements, covers management, finances, economic environment, accounting, human resources, preparing and launching public bids, security and safety of construction workers, deputizing for the project manager and following all aspects of the project.
Some 14 women of mixed nationalities have begun the first course and four of them have already been placed with a company for the practical segment.
At a press conference on Saturday the trainees were welcomed by the Director General of SEMSAMAR Marie-Paule Bélénus Romana who gave an overview of the construction industry in St. Martin and its outlook for the future. She said she was delighted to be chosen as the Godmother for this first promotion and expressed her wish to see more women working in a more “professionalized” construction industry.
A seminar on professionalization of the construction industry was also held on Saturday.
Director of La FAC Levy Tony said the objective is for the 14 trainees to become “immediately operational” once their course is finished. “Irma has created many employment opportunities in the construction industry and it is expanding,” she noted.
Bélénus Romana, who engaged in a question and answer session with the trainees said: “I can assure you that you have chosen to work in a sector that has a great future ahead.”
