THE language barrier between workers on the Westmoreland bridge in St Mary and the Rio Grande bridge in Portland has not prevented Jamaicans from earning the reputation as “quick learners” from the expert Chinese bridge builders.

The Jamaicans employed by China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) to work on what are to be two of the longest bridges in the island are taking home more than a pay cheque, as many who started as labourers have received on-the-job training as welders, lab technicians, and operators of heavy duty equipment, among other skills.

Some have even received on-the-job HEART/NTA certification up to Level III, while others have received certification from another institution to operate heavy equipment.

The workers say they learn even the most technical of functions simply by observing the process demonstrated by their Chinese instructors since they are unable to communicate verbally.

Cavian Morris, who now operates one of the pile-drilling machines at the Westmoreland bridge site, said he had never seen this machine before working on the project.

“Mr Wong is my teacher,” he said, pointing to a smiling Chinese man who spoke absolutely no English.

The St Mary resident said he and his instructor are only able to communicate via body language, but this has not posed a challenge to his learning.

“He taught me everything about this machine; such as how to line it up, how to operate it, and how to repair it and all he did was to demonstrate something and I follow,” he said.

Morris, who first started on the project as a mason to construct the company’s offices at that location, said he has also received training to work in the welding and landscape areas as well.

The former taxi operator said he hopes to become as skilled as the Chinese whom he described as “jack of all trades”.

“Taxi work is not a career, but this is,” he told the Jamaica Observer North East during a recent visit to the site.

His stint on the project has further inspired him to want to learn to operate the crane and hopes that he will eventually become an engineer on another bridge-building project.

Carlington Chartlton, who is employed to the Rio Grande bridge project, said he first started as a labourer in the work preparation area.

The Port Antonio resident, who now works in the lab to test the quality of the concrete, said he has learnt a lot in the last 16 months he has been with the project.

“I now know the type of concrete to pour and the procedure to go through,” he told the Observer North East.

His colleague in the lab, Lance Moore — who was also initially hired as a labourer — said it took him some time to catch on, but he was determined to meet the two-week deadline he was given to grasp the task.

“They gave me a book to study and in less than two weeks I catch on how to test the marl,” he said.

Cecil Young, another worker on the Rio Grande bridge, said it didn’t take him long to realise that working on the project would mean more than just a pay cheque but an opportunity to acquire a skill.

“I come here as a labourer with no skills, but then I realised that this is a different thing, because the Chinese are all about training and not about just throwing some stone in a gabion basket,” he said.

Young said he has since worked in steel fabrication and grading of the road before moving to work with concrete under water.

“It was hard to catch on at first, but when they said it was a month’s test, and if I didn’t catch on I would go home, I made sure that I learn,” the St Margaret’s Bay resident said.

Anthony Henry said he also started as a labourer, before moving to the welding yard, then later to building gabion baskets.

“I come as a labourer and now I am an improved skills man who is ready for the road,” he said, with a big smile.

Never having seen a bridge being built before, Henry said work was a fascinating experience every day.

Ricky White, who was first hired as a welder, thought his responsibilities would have stopped at the steel fabrication area. He never thought he would have been asked to assist in the building of the “ship” — the contraption which takes the men underwater to work on the bridge.

“When I just came, dem did already build the Bailey bridge which they used to work on the main bridge, and I used to wonder how something like this would be done, and then to see that I end up working on it is a very good feeling,” the Hope Bay resident said, his eyes gleaming with pride.

Roy Johnson, a painter of Bromley in St Mary, said he had never welded anything before being employed on the project.

He first started doing odd jobs on the project before he was invited to learn welding.

“In less than a month I learn it and I want to continue in it,” he said.

Chinese translator Michelle Zheng said the Chinese are impressed with the Jamaicans’ ability to quickly grasp what is taught.

“What we find is that the Jamaicans are quick learners and we want the workers to know enough so when we leave Jamaica they will be able to do these things independently,” she said.

Pointing to Jamaicans working on a steel cage, Zheng said none of them were able to make the cages when they were first employed.

“Initially the Chinese technician would have to be there with them, but now they are able to do it all by themselves,” she said.

She said CHEC ensures the workers receive on-the-job training regardless of what skill they come to the job with.

The company, she said, also gives letters of recommendation to the workers, stating what on-the-job training they have received.

“The language is a barrier initially, but the workers learn through body language and we learn English and the culture from them,” Zheng said.

Jamaicans are also amazed at their ability to readily master some of the technology that the company, which has constructed the world’s longest sea-crossing bridge, has brought to the island.

Pointing to a steel bending machine, Devon Bailey said this has helped him to be that much more efficient, as unlike other projects he is not required to bend the metal by hand.

“In the long run, when the company leaves we should be able to get a job and master this on our own,” the Annotto Bay resident said.

Donovan Dwyer said although he has always worked with steel, he has never learnt as much about it as he has in the last few months.

“You have some techniques that we learn that show the easier way to monitor steel,” he said.

He added further: “If we had those machines in Jamaica we could set up a shop where people who are building could come with their steel and just give us the measurement and we would bend it for them.”