McHale Andrew, Invest Saint Lucia CEO
In light of major concerns that the recently signed multi-million dollar project for Vieux Fort will attract more non-national workers than locals, government has given some assurances that this will not be the case.
Chief Executive Officer of Invest Saint Lucia McHale Andrew said at the beginning of discussions with Desert Star Holdings (DSH) in March 2015, it was made clear that the majority of workers will have to be Saint Lucians.
During those discussions, it was suggested that DSH will undertake to train Saint Lucians, in some instances in as short as three months, to do some of the artisanal work related to the equine industry.
“And that undertaking is also encapsulated in the framework agreement and goes on step further to propose the establishment of a training institution to provide that training for Saint Lucians,” Andrew told the media on Monday.
The CEO said in relation to hiring non-nationals for the project, DSH will have to go throw the normal process of acquiring work permits for these individuals, and abide by the labour laws.
“With respect to the work permit issues, I can say to you, we do not know of any proposal to amend to the labour laws of Saint Lucia for this or any other project,” he explained.
Questioned about the issuance of passports to individuals related to the project, Andrew said these persons would have to undergo a rigorous due diligence process before they are granted local passports.
However, the government has the authority to revoke these, if they deem it necessary.
“There is no figure that there are entitled to….No one can say at this stage, how many passports would be issued,” Andrew said, noting that the project implementation stage could take several years.
“One cannot simply divide the threshold minimum that entitle you by the amount of investment for two reasons. One, many of the investments will have nothing to do with the CIP, ” he added.
The opposition Saint Lucia Labour Party said while it had agreed on most of the fundamental points of the agreement with DSH, there were some critical elements which required national consultation and even parliamentary debate and approval before the project is given the green light.
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