Commitment to a scheme to give jobless Caymanians work in the run-up to the festive season has been underlined in parliament.
Jay Ebanks, the minister responsible for the National Community Enhancement (NiCE) programme said that he wanted the programme to become “a stepping stone” towards full-time work.
He added, “NiCE provides temporary employment for community pride and skills development and we are adding training and pathways to full-time opportunities.”
Ebanks said, “This is the empowerment of our people, not charity.”
He added, “This year when the NiCE programme is started the plans are to share that data with the minister for Caymanian employment so that he can actually go to try to make sure that we get a lot of these individuals, a lot of Caymanian people that are on the NiCE programme, off of the programme and into a full-time job.”
The scheme, open to Caymanians aged 18 or more, offers $10 an hour for work on clean-up projects around Grand Cayman.
Ebanks told MPs at a sitting of parliament’s finance committee on 13 Nov. that many thought the announcement of the programme’s continuation “would never come to light”.
But he said, “The NiCE programme is going to be used as a stepping stone to get these individuals to the next stage when it comes to a full-time job.”
Fears over the project were stoked earlier this year when a private member’s bill to expand the programme year-round, as is already the case in Cayman Brac, was rejected.
Kenneth Bryan, the deputy opposition leader, who proposed the motion, said it was “an essential service to the country”.
But Michael Myles, the Caymanian employment minister, dismissed the proposal as “a vote buying programme”.
The bill was defeated by nine votes to seven after Myles said all the programme did was “kick the can of Caymanian training and employment opportunities further down the road”.
Myles added that those on the scheme did not get healthcare, pension plans, vacation or sickness benefits.
He said the priority should be equipping Caymanians to fill roles at present held by work permit holders and that barriers to work such as childcare, transport and mental health conditions should be dismantled.
Related Videos
That was the original intent. People signed up as a gateway, not a long-term thing. Those who demonstrated solid work ethics and leadership skills were given a reference letter to that effect which they could submit with their employment applications elsewhere. When enrolling, participants were told it was meant to help them while they actively sought full-time employment.
In my my 42 years living and working in Grand Cayman, the Caymanian 4% unemployed, do not want to work. They have been spoiled by the reliability and generosity of free handouts by government. I have no problem with this, other than this 4% is getting government assistance plus many actual have a job income. How can government track this abuse?