THE EDITOR, Sir:
I AM a Jamaican teaching in the Bahamas for the past four years. There is a specific situation that has come to my knowledge that I would like my fellow Jamaicans to be aware of. There are some parasitic Jamaicans who tend to prey on the young and desperate. They paint the picture-perfect Bahamas, as a place where jobs are easily accessible for foreigners. It is quite the contrary, as, if you are not a teacher or helper it is highly unlikely to find work there. There are other professionals there but they are few and far between.
Two young persons have shared with me that they have seen job vacancies advertised in the Jamaican newspapers. When they call the numbers given, they are told that all they need to have is a US$500 fee and their passports, work permits and a place to stay and the job would be ready and waiting for them. On arrival at the airport, after the money has been paid over, they are left totally on their own as aliens.
One of these young ladies had sold the bare essentials she had, and took a loan from the bank in order to produce the fee to someone who now cannot be found as the name she used was an alias. These persons are here living in terrible conditions and doing whatever they can to get the plane fare to return home.
This is a warning to anyone who desperately needs a job; do not be fooled. Work permits are difficult to come by and those that are available are from legitimate sources. Young people, do proper investigations before you traffic your life away. It is not worth it.
I am, etc.,
A CONCERNED JAMAICAN
Living in the Bahamas
