200 Vincentians to be hired for Sandals resort in TCI

At least 200 Vincentians in the hospitality sector will have the opportunity to work at the new Sandals Beaches Resorts in the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) in the coming months.

Camillo Gonsalves, this country’s Finance Minister made the announcement this week while delivering a ministerial statement in Parliament on Tuesday.

Gonsalves said the government concluded discussions with Sandals Resorts International this week regarding the employment opportunity abroad for Vincentians.

Sandals Resorts International finalised the purchase of the former Buccament Bay Resort last year, which it intends to transform into a Beaches Resort.

“The expectation is that these Vincentian workers will gain experience and familiarity with the Beaches brand and standards and that they will eventually rotate back through the various Sandals properties until they are redeployed to Beaches Buccament Bay when that resort is completed”.

The Finance Minister said that the management of Sandals pointed out that a new government has been formed in the TCI and they are in the process of working out matters related to work permits for the foreign workers.

In the meantime, the international resort company will come to St Vincent and the Grenadines in mid to late April to conduct interviews, with the intention of deploying Vincentian hospitality staff to TCI in advance of the upcoming tourism high season.

“So, they expect to have them in place in June, July and we look forward to that. We also thank Sandals Resorts International for working with us, as cooperatively as they have, to seeking out opportunities for hospitality workers and in crafting this win-win situation for some 200 plus hospitality workers from St Vincent and the Grenadines,” Gonsalves said.

He pointed out that ads will appear in the local newspapers in the coming weeks.

This is just one of several job opportunities that the government is making available to Vincentians during the ongoing COVID19 pandemic.
The Finance Minister also announced on Tuesday that an additional 100 Youth Empowerment Service (YES) interns will be engaged in the ongoing programme.

He said “it is the hope that the YES interns will gain valuable experience during this period of COVID related job scarcity, which will better position them for permanent employment in the post-COVID job market”.

Gonsalves also said the government will create a Community Improvement Brigade of part time workers to engage in minor beautification, vector control and maintenance projects in villages nationwide.

A minimum of 150 additional part time workers is expected to be employed through this initiative over the next six months.