Cutback in hotel programme likely

Glenda Anderson, staff reporter

Persons seeking employment in the Government's Hospitality (H2B) Programme, which is intended to land them jobs in hotels in the United States, could be in for major disappointment.

The Government fears that it may have to scale down the programme if the expected fallout in U.S. tourism industry occurs.

The concerns come in light of the recent terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, which impacted heavily on international commercial flights to and from the United States, as well as tourism interests around the world.

Officials at the Ministry of Labour are particularly worried that, if the United States tourist industry is heavily scaled back, this will seriously affect the seasonal quota of Jamaican workers.

According to Anthony Irons, senior adviser at the Ministry of Labour, the situation could specifically affect the H2B programme.

"With the hotel programme we will have to watch to see how the economy goes, especially with recession on. If it affects the hotel industry it will also affect the number of workers that we are asked to send," he said.

Meanwhile, some 240 Jamaican workers under the Canadian farm work programme and another 40 persons on the North American farm work programme had to forego travel plans after Tuesday's attacks.

The group was scheduled to leave the island on Tuesday evening (September 11) but instead, were delayed at the Ministry's East Street holding area.

Mr. Irons said that travel plans have been adjusted with the workers now leaving in smaller groups. The exercise started last Friday with an initial 20 workers on an Air Canada flight out of the island.

Each year the Canadian Farm work programme attracts some 5,000 Jamaican workers, with another 4,000 for the American Agricultural programme (H2A). The numbers vary at times.

This year there was a massive islandwide response to the Hospitality (H2B) Programme and some 6,000 persons were issued application forms to participate in it. Successful applicants from this number will be scheduled for a number of pre-selection interviews with both local and overseas officials in the coming year.

"We were hoping to get an additional 1,600 jobs for next year," Mr. Irons said, adding, "we will just have to see how it goes for now."

For the period 1999-2000 there was an increase in the number of participants moving from 2,602 to 4,175. At July of this year the number was at 4,600 participants.

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