LABOUR and Social Security Minister Karl Samuda assured the House of Representatives on Tuesday that Jamaica will not become a “jumping off” point for foreigners seeking work permits when there are Jamaicans who can fill vacancies for skilled workers.

Making his presentation in the annual sectoral debate, Samuda said that his ministry will be examining the applications from employers much more carefully, in light of the need to fill vacancies.

“We are going to be more discriminating and we are going to send out our teams to ensure that when we say to them, ‘Have you tried to find a Jamaican to fill the job which we gave you a permit for last year?’ If we don’t find that [answer] to be in the affirmative, then they will not get another one,” he told the House.

“We are literally going to twist their arms to make sure that Jamaica is not a destination — or a jump off point — to anywhere else, and to facilitate persons who want to come here and use us. So we are going to insist that, as long as there is a Jamaican available and can be identified for a job that they are going to request a permit, that preference is for the Jamaicans,” he stated.

Samuda’s comments came after Prime Minister Andrew Holness recently spoke of the possibility of Jamaica importing foreign labour to satisfy a demand for skilled workers, in cases where Jamaicans are not able to fill the vacancy.

The prime minister’s comments ignited loud crosstalk between Jamaicans who interpreted it to mean that the country would be flooded with skilled foreign workers in areas like construction because of the shortage of Jamaicans with these necessary skills.

On Tuesday Samuda said that, with regard to the Nationalities of Work Permits approved last year, Chinese accounted for 1,187 applications, followed by Indians numbering 470. He said that together, these two groups accounted for approximately 61 per cent of the total number of approved applications.

He said that the work permit unit at the ministry granted 1,008 work permit exemptions during the period April 2021-March 2022, and that 620 were new exemptions while 388 were renewals.

The ministry, Samuda said, recognises that in order to continue effectively delivering on its mandate, it must innovate and embrace technology.

“We are therefore replacing our existing Legacy Work Permit System and re-engineering its business processes by the creation of a new, web-based and mobile-friendly Work Permit and Skills Certificate Management System,” Samuda said.

“This system will be safe, secure, efficient, business-friendly, and client-focused. It will facilitate investment in areas of need. This new platform will be informed by labour market intelligence, training and certification needs, to close skills gaps in the local economy,” he added.

He also told the House that the new system and business processes will strengthen protection against the risk of the work permit system being used for human trafficking, or acts of terrorism.

He said that the procurement process is far advanced and the ministry expects to proceed to contract signing early in the new fiscal year, and full implementation of the new system toward the end of the year. The budget for the new system is approximately US$875,000.