KINGSTON, Jamaica — Minister of Labour and Social Security, Pearnel Charles Jr says he is making significant headway in furthering the commitment to improve his ministry’s Overseas Employment Programme (OEP).

During his official visit to Canada last November to meet with primary stakeholders of the programme, Charles Jr at that time made a commitment to make the necessary improvements to the programme in a bid to boost its sustainability and expansion.

According to a news release on Tuesday, Minister Charles Jr in speaking at this morning’s meeting with the Acting Chief of the Canadian Liaison Service, Althea Riley and her team, received updates regarding the implementation of the recommendations previously made by the Ministry of Labour and Social Security’s (MLSS) Fact Finding team.

Strategic efforts to grow the programme, targeted strengthening of stakeholder relationships, improvements made to boost the effectiveness of the members of the liaison service, and the progress made in securing additional protections for farm workers were among the recommendations.

The minister was advised that farms previously highlighted for concern regarding living conditions had adapted most of the recommendations made by the team. These improvements were reportedly made during the winter season and have boosted the infrastructure of the housing facilities for workers.

The release further noted that, “efforts to grow the programme through the liaison service were being undertaken in the form of increased promotion of the Jamaican farm worker through a targeted marketing focus.”

“This focus entails the increased attendance of liaison officers at trade and horticultural shows; increased engagement with prospective employers through emailing, calling and meetings to promote increased selection of Jamaican farm workers and meeting with our current employers to encourage them to retain and increase their Jamaican hires,” it read.

Responding to the updates, Charles Jr said, “we need to measure our efforts to determine their effectiveness and implement further initiatives to boost our farm workers. With fit- for-purpose training and certification we will continue to work towards making our workers more attractive, more competitive and a stronger competitor for available slots.”

Charles Jr further spoke to the liaison officers regarding plans being developed to establish fit- for- purpose training for prospective workers through HEART, based on the needs of individual farmers, to have the training in Jamaica of farmworkers tailored to their individual needs. He also informed attendees that additional options were underway for employers to train the trainers-facilitating mutual knowledge transfer- and to establish facilities for employers to meet and select farmworkers in person.

Further initiatives to boost the sustainability and expansion of the programme include creating roles for increased employment of women and the inclusion of individuals with disabilities.

Charles Jr is scheduled to provide further details on these initiatives during his upcoming sectoral presentation.