THE Government has established a special committee comprising representatives of the ministries of labour, national security, and justice to review procedures for granting work permits in areas where Jamaican workers are vulnerable.

The committee is to report to Cabinet within four weeks.

In the meantime, the government has decided to temporarily stop issuing work permits to foreign exotic (go-go) dancers recruited by local nightclubs, although those engaged by hotels will continue to obtain permits, subject to closer monitoring.

This was revealed by Information Minister Donald Buchanan at Monday’s post-cabinet briefing at Jamaica House.

The decision was triggered by the recent clash in the House of Representatives between Labour Minister Derrick Kellier and Ruddy Spencer, Opposition spokesman on labour, over the issuing of work permits to a growing number of foreign workers.

During the exchange, the labour minister admitted that hundreds of work permits were issued over the years without the vacancies being advertised locally, a prerequisite to issuing the permits.

He was responding to questions tabled by Spencer on the issuing of the permits.

On Monday, Buchanan said Cabinet had looked at initiatives being implemented that were aimed at further strengthening the systems and procedures for granting work permits.

He said that the investigative capacity of the work permit unit had been strengthened, with a retired senior police officer recruited to visit establishments where migrant workers are employed, among other things.

“A number of nightclubs, construction sites and small business establishments have already been visited, and the findings indicate that there have been some breaches by work permit holders,” the minister explained.

He said that some holders had changed employment without changing the conditions of their employment. Others had left their place of employment, before the end of the approved period, without a forwarding address.

He said that further investigations were being conducted, and where there was non-compliance with established regulations, work permits would be revoked.

In addition, Kellier said steps were being taken to ensure that people holding expired work permits did not remain in the island illegally. To this end, he said the Immigration Department would be notified in due course.

“Although there is no conclusive evidence that persons granted work permits are victims of trafficking, the ministry is fully cognisant of the potential risk to categories of migrant workers such as the exotic dancers and, as a consequence, a number of measures are being implemented to address this risk,” Kellier added.

He said that a special committee would review the procedures for the granting of the permits, especially to vulnerable categories of Jamaicans.

“The issuance of work permits for dancers to be engaged in nightclubs has therefore been suspended pending the outcome of this review.

“However, requests submitted by hotels for foreign dancers are still being granted, in view of the need to maintain the cultural diversity of the entertainment and hospitality sector,” Buchanan said. “Notwithstanding, there will still be close monitoring of work permits granted for this sector, to ensure that there are no breaches of the law, especially the facilitation of human trafficking.”