NORWOOD, St James, made dubiously famous by a recent series of chilling murders, will be the next community targeted by Sandals Montego Bay for its Sandals Training And Recruitment Tier (START) programme, after similarly troubled Flankers.

Come August 2, the programme will be extended to accommodate 10 unskilled and unemployed youths from the Norwood community, as part of a wider bid to address some of the north coast parish's unemployment and social problems, said Horace Peterkin, general manager of Sandals Montego Bay.

Under the extension, the Norwood youths will be trained in the food and beverage (kitchen, bar and sanitation), engineering (AC/refrigeration, stove technician/plumbing, room technician) and entertainment departments for a period of up to 12 months.

The START programme which began in 2003, had so far been focused on Sandals Montego Bay's adopted community of Flankers, but Peterkin said the trainees from Norwood would similarly be provided with transportation between the city centre and the property, as well as lunch, uniform and a stipend.

He added that while employment at Sandals Montego Bay was not guaranteed for the trainees, the hotel, in tandem with the HEART/NTA would do everything possible to assist them in gaining employment elsewhere in the hospitality sector.

Peterkin stressed that the programme would initially target the young males from the community who were most at risk. Gang warfare in sections of Norwood have recently exploded into wanton killings and arson that pushed up the St James murder toll.

Peterkin who is also president of the umbrella Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA) used the opportunity to challenging other players in the tourism sector as well as business owners in St James to get their own "START" programme going.

"If, for example, the Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which has in excess of 60 active members who operate 50 small, medium and large companies in St James, were to take on two youngsters for training, well over 200 youngsters would be in training at any one time," he calculated.

Since the inception of the START programme, over 75 youths from the Flankers area have been trained and officially certified by HEART/NTA. For its part in the programme, Sandals Montego Bay received local, national and international recognition from agencies such as the Canadian International Development Agency, CIDA, the Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission and the Social Conflict and Legal Reform.

Currently, graduates from the START programme are gainfully employed at several Sandals, Beaches and other local hotels, on cruise ships as well as on the Government's overseas employment programme.

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