LPM Leader Raises Jobs Alarm

LEADER of the Lucian Peoples Movement (LPM) Therold Pru8dent says he is concerned about the unemployment levels in Gros Islet and has called on the parliamentary representative Mr. Lenard Montoute, to pay greater attention to the situation.

According to Mr. Prudent, periodically employing a handful of constituents in the government run STEP programme, is certainly not enough to alleviate the high levels of unemployment throughout the constituency of Gros Islet. Moreover, he said, the scarcity of jobs that are available for a constituency the size and magnitude of Saint Lucia’s largest political district, only served to raise the level of social frustration and economic disparity that exist among the people of the town.

Prudent said : “I am prepared to do my part and I hope that in the interest of the people of Gros Islet, that Mr. Montoute will set politics aside, and work with me to help eradicate the ugly scourges of unemployment up north”.

A first step, according to Mr. Prudent, would be to carry out a thorough unemploymentexcercise throughout the entire constituency to determine not just the unemployment rate for that particular constituency, but a clear identification of those who are unemployed, including their educational backgrounds and other skills sets etc.

However, once that information has been compiled, Prudent proposes the establishment of an independent body called the Gros Islet Economic and Renewal Council (GIERC). The GIERC will consist of two representatives from each of the key communities that make up the constituency of Gros Islet. Those persons would have had to receive the overwhelming support of their respective communities in order to serve the council for a period of 5 years.

The GIERC would then be charge with responsibility of managing a newly created Jobs and Skills Training Bureau, that is geared towards appropriately matching those who are unemployed with available jobs throughout the constituency, while offering appropriate training to those whose educational background and skills falls far below the acceptable requirements of potential employers.

The overarching goals of the GIERC would be to drastically reduce the rate of unemployment , by formulating fresh and progressive ideas for job creation in order to meet the economic needs of the people of Gros Islet; to liaise with the business community in order to identify existing areas of employment and to guarantee that the right to employment is not determined by one’s political affiliation, but by their ability and qualification to perform a given job.