ST JAMES, Jamaica (JIS) – Two facilities for the delivery of world-class skills training and medical and wellness services have set up operations in the Montego Bay Free Zone (MBFZ).

They are the Integrated Workforce Development Centre (IWDC) and the e-Shore Medical Centre which were officially opened on October 29.

The IWDC, a project of the Caribbean Maritime Institute’s (CMI) School of Advanced Skills, began operations six months ago to provide trained, skilled, and certified workers in the areas of business solutions, port operations, shipping and logistics, and engineering.

So far, 50 young people from St James are benefitting from multi-certification and multi-skill career training.

Addressing the opening ceremony, Director of the IWDC, Osric Forrest, said the primary role of the centre is to provide training in keeping with advancement in  technology and international requirements.

Forrest pointed out that the CMI’s existing linkages with industries in business solutions, transportation, warehousing, logistics and distribution strengthen its capacity to train in skill areas that are in high demand.

“The centre will, therefore, serve to enhance the country’s economic stability and prosperity by focusing on its human resources,” he said.

Meanwhile, the state-of-the-art e-Shore Medical Centre will provide health and wellness services to the rapidly expanding workforce in the MBFZ, in accordance with global standards.

Representative of the facility, Dr Kamali Tulloch, said the centre is the product of a partnership between the Bay West Wellness Clinic and the MBFZ.

The aim is to provide a trained workforce to meet the needs of investors in light manufacturing, business process outsourcing (BPO) and contact/call centre operations.

In addition to the formal training, there is an active paramilitary programme which reinforces the importance of discipline, order and teamwork, and these attitudes manifest themselves in the classroom.