Moontown

   

NINE hundred and fifty men and women — the majority of whom were requested multiple times by farm operators — left the island over the last three days to work on apple orchards in the United States as Jamaicans continue to be the most sought-after group of farm workers.

Yesterday, the latest batch of 70 workers displayed high expectations as they prepared for the journey from the Ministry of Labour offices in downtown Kingston to the Norman Manley International Airport for the flight to New York.

Among them were 55-year-old Hugh Brown, who is making his 29th trip and 65-year-old Sylvester Tulloch, who has been going for more than 35 years.

“Jamaicans are still the most sought-after group of workers because we have a reputation for hard work,” explained Allison Morrison, director at the ministry’s US Labour Department.

She told the Observer that some 4,000 workers have left for the US farm work programme since the start of this year, and while unable to immediately provide a specific figure, Morrison said even more have left for farms in Canada.

Labour Minister Pearnel Charles, who addressed the workers, encouraged them to continue representing Jamaica well. and in so doing pave the way for other Jamaicans to get an opportunity.

An upbeat Charles made it clear that the majority of the men were repeat workers who had been specifically requested by farm operators.

“I don’t want to hear that I am wicked as some men are going over and over and others can’t get to go… but this is a repeat programme and the men were requested,” he said.

Charles said he continued to receive high commendation from the US employers about the work attitude of the Jamaicans, with some even helping to bring in new business.

This, he said, was the case recently when five Jamaican workers at a farm in Washington, DC took the time out to inform farm operators about the programme. This, he said, resulted in the employers requesting some 350 Jamaicans to work.

“One farmer has advised me he will shut down his farm any day the Jamaicans go because he wants no one else,” Charles said.

But even among the glowing commendations, Charles said the programme has hit a rough patch with the US Government requesting a review of the ministry’s initiative to withhold four per cent of the workers’ salaries.

“There is some misunderstanding about what we are withdrawing from the workers’ salaries and so there has been a suspension and review of that,” Charles told the Observer.

He explained further that ministry officials should be going to the US later this week to bring a resolution to the matter.

The problem, he said, started with a number of agencies which have been illegally taking money from Jamaican workers to provide them with jobs. The Jamaican Government, he said, has since clamped down on many of these agencies.

But according to Charles, the agency in the United States authorised by the ministry to provide liaison services between the workers and the relevant US authorities has also been affected.

He explained that one per cent of the farm workers’ salaries was paid over to this agency, but this has been suspended.

The remaining three per cent is paid over to the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) and towards the workers’ personal savings which is later turned over to the workers on their return to Jamaica.

Charles said the US Government was prompted to act after receiving complaints about the agencies that were illegally selling jobs to workers.

But Charles stressed to the farm workers the importance of continuing to contribute to the NIS as well as to secure some sort of personal savings.

As such, he informed them that when they arrive in the United States they would be given the option of allowing the withdrawal of the NIS.

He implored them to continue to be ambassadors and represent the Jamaican worker well.

Richard Bailey, who was among the few first timers, said he was optimistic about the opportunity. With his father having made his 30th trip a day before him, Bailey said he has received a lot of tips about what to expect. A tiler by profession, Bailey said he is certain he will be able to work hard at picking apples.

“I want to make sure that I can become a consistent person like my father,” said Bailey who lives in St Catherine.

Damien Cummings from St Thomas was making his second voyage and was just as optimistic.

“My first trip was challenging until I got the hang of it, but I worked very hard and they requested me back this year,” he said.

He believes Jamaican workers are ambassadors in paving the way for other workers.

“How well we perform will determine who else they take, and so we work the hardest,” he told the Observer, adding that the Jamaicans are constantly labelled as the most hard-working above the Mexicans and the Costa Ricans. (Jamaica Observer)

Caught allegedly stealing ATM card PIN numbers

Jamaica Observer

TWO men have became the first persons in Jamaica to be arrested and charged under the Cyber Crimes Act.

The men were charged Friday last following an investigation which started on Saturday, August 28.

At about 9:30 am that day the accused men were seen acting suspiciously in a motorcar in front of an Automated Teller Machine (ATM) situated in Manchester.

The men and the vehicle were searched and found in the car were electronic devices used to intercept transactions and to duplicate the personal identification number (PIN) and other personal information of customers using the ATM.

Duplicate cards can then be manufactured using this information, which allow criminals to take monies from a customer’s account without his or her knowledge and permission.

The men were charged under sections 3, 6 and 8 of the act

They are to appear in the Half-Way-Tree Resident Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday this week. (Jamaica Observer)

From left: Dalma James, president of the Small Business Association of Jamaica (SBAJ); Reginald Budhan, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce; and Milton Samuda, president of the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce, listen intently to Sharon Roper, director of marketing at Flow, as she outlines the competitive advantages of Flow’s broadband to the development of small businesses. The group was at the recent launch of the SBAJ’s first Small Business Conference at the industry ministry’s New Kingston office. - Contributed

Clearly not expecting financial institutions to lend irresponsibly, president of the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce (JCC), Milton Samuda, is urging resource-rich facilities to fuel capacity building - preparing small businesses to be “bank-ready”.

The chamber president was speaking at the recent press launch of the first Small Business Conference (SBC) to be staged by the Small Business Association of Jamaica and the Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce at The Wyndham Kingston hotel in New Kingston.

The conference has been tagged under the theme ‘Jamaicans Taking Advantage of Business Opportunities’.

Samuda in his speech said that in preparation for Jamaican small businesses to succeed, those with the resources must assist them to formalise their activities, record-keeping and governance structures; improve their skills not just in their area of expertise, but also in market assessment and technology application.

He described the conference, which is being powered by Flow, as pivotal and timely.

“It is being staged at a critical juncture in Jamaica’s history,” Samuda said.

He noted that small businesses

needed enabling in the collateraliasation of intellectual property and the obtaining of title to family lands so that as small entrepreneurs

, many of whom operate family business, can collateralise their borrowing and access loan capital.

The Chamber of Commerce observations fall in line with the topics to be discussed at the one-day event. The areas to be covered include financing options, identifying viable business oppor-tunities, effective marketing and distribution and taxation and regulatory requirements, areas president of the Small Business Association of Jamaica, Dalma James, describes as critical.

Part of 2030 vision

“We will have expert presenters in these areas who will present papers, followed by discussions,” said James. Hoping to achieve a more efficient sector at the end of the day, James said this was part of the 2030 Vision for Jamaica.

SBC 2010 is being sponsored by Guardsman Group of Companies, Jamaica Public Service Company Limited, Flow, Jamaica Air Shuttle and Xsomo International Limited.

“Our involvement stems from the need to help to facilitate the growth, development and competitiveness of this critical segment of the Jamaican business landscape,” says Flow’s director of marketing, Sharon Roper.

“We also recognise the challenges that many of these small businesses face in their day-to-day operations, and we are here to help alleviate some of these challenges and to showcase some of the ways that they can take advantage of the opportunities.”

The 2010 Doing Business Index, published by the World Bank, shows that Jamaica is ranked 75th overall of 183 countries, ranking 19 in starting a business, 23 in closing a business, 87 in getting credit and 174 in ease of paying taxes. (Jamaica Gleaner)

Sewell

Elaine Foster-Allen during a Gleaner interview. - Ian Allen/Photographer

Reid

Molloy

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Nadisha Hunter, Gleaner Writer

Chronic academic and administrative failure has jolted Jamaica’s education ministry into tethering some principals to a three-year performance target in a bid for them to improve school standards or risk being flushed from the system.

Permanent secretary in the Ministry of Education, Audrey Sewell, told The Gleaner that weak performances were unearthed recently in a pilot assessment programme carried out in 30 schools by the National Education Inspectorate (NEI).

Some of the schools inspected ranked below sector standards, Sewell revealed, but she said she was unable to say how many institutions fell in the underperforming category.

“There are some schools that are doing very well, and there are some areas that we intend to use to benchmark as best practices,” Sewell said.

“Further, there are some schools where there are challenges, the perfor-mances (are) below expec-tations, and we intend to work with those schools.”

The permanent secretary said the ministry would seek to equip those schools to reasonable levels - or in her words, assist them “to get up to scratch” - before swinging the axe.

“If you have a principal who has been put on a performance-target track and he/she is not performing, then, naturally, one of the things you might have to do is change the principal,” said Sewell, explaining the options available to the education ministry.

Heads of teacher groups have backed the idea of holding school managers accountable, but cautioned that more details were needed to get them fully on board.

Nadine Molloy, president of the Jamaica Teachers’ Association, a union which represents more than 20,000 public-school teachers, said she supports an evaluation regime for principals if the Government sticks to its commitment to boost resources.

She warned, however, that due process should be followed in bringing under-performing principals to book.

Sharon Reid, president of the Jamaica Association of Principals of Secondary Schools, disclosed that an inspection was undertaken at St Andrew High School, of which she is principal.

While expressing concern about some of the ratings, Reid said it was, for the most part, a fair process.

Reid agreed that struggling principals who fail to clear the three-year, do-or-die hurdle should be dismissed, but said she would hold back absolute support until the education ministry published performance criteria and the inspection report.

Sewell said principals at the sub-par schools would face an acid test from an assessment board at the end of the three-year period.

“The schools will be getting standard, specific objectives, specific targets, and if those are not met consistently, … considering the resources that they have had and the context, then the board will be asked to take action,” the permanent secretary remarked.

Sewell also noted that the roles of education officers will be changed to focus on school improvement.

Though sketchy on the findings of the report when quizzed by reporters at an Editors’ Forum last week, chief inspector at the NEI, Elaine Foster-Allen, said the inspection revealed deep-seated teaching and learning deficiencies which were endemic to schools.

She said one school had already acted on recommendations and was in the process of having professional development sessions.

The NEI programme was implemented to promote a culture of excellence in education, a system of accountability, as well as the goal of continuing institutional improvement.

The ministry is in the process of holding principals accountable for the failure of students in order to achieve its 2015 goal of full literacy for all primary-school graduates.

Some 110 schools are to be inspected, increasing the total to 150.

Allen said all public schools would be inspected over the next three and a half years.

The agency, which was established in line with one of the recommendations from the 2004 Task Force on Education, is funded by the World Bank. (Jamaica Gleaner)

nadisha.hunter@gleanerjm.com