ST KITTS (VOSKN) – A Kittitian who resides in New Town, in the eastern part of the capital of Basseterre, has accused the Team Unity Government of Prime Minister Dr Timothy Harris of turning local construction workers into “garbage collectors in their homeland”.
According to VOSKN, Roy Mallalieu who is employed by Kier Construction told Dr Harris at one of the series of Town Hall meetings that he has a very serious problem on the job site on the southeast peninsula.
He said that when young Kittitian men turn up to work they are turned away by a Jamaican-born supervisor.
He said there are about 300 Jamaicans employed at the construction site and there is not one carpenter from St. Kitts, not one mason from St Kitts and all the heavy duty equipment operators are from Jamaica and it is like going to Jamaica to work with bombaclaat heard all day.
Although he has made several complaints to Social Security and the Labour Department of which Premier of Nevis Vance Amory is the Federal Minister of Labour, Roy told Dr Harris and other minister that the officials are just sitting down in their offices and not doing any work.
Stating it is time the Team Unity Government and Dr Harris represent the ordinary man and woman, the 53 year old Newtowner said that as a result of his previous complaints he was fired by a previous company and is now employed by Kier.
He said when he went to seek employment he was asked by a 63-year-old Jamaican where he was from and when informed he was from St Kitts, he was asked by the supervisor to show his passport.
Roy said he showed the supervisor his St Kitts and Nevis passport only to be told by the supervisor that he does not like to hire Kittitians and he told the supervisor that he was embarrassing him in his own country.
Roy said people from several nations living in St Kitts are working and people from St Kitts cannot make the list to be hired and it appears that young Kittitian construction workers have become garbage collectors in their own country.
He said it is unbelievable while a 63 year old Jamaican is employed, young Kittitians are unemployed. Roy told Prime Minister Harris it is not fair for and requested that the present situation be looked into. This generated approval with a round of applause from the audience.
He also told Dr. Harris he is now giving away the jobs to foreigners and all the young Spanish residents are dressing nice and drinking beers while the locals cannot drink beers and feed themselves.
He said he is working from 7 am to 7 pm for $9 an hour and urged Dr Harris to do something about it.
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