Bahamas: 1,200 government jobs will be made permanent and pensionable
Minister of the Public Service Brensil Rolle said just over 1,200 people part of the government’s National Job Creation Programme had received letters confirming they would be made permanent and pensionable after passing a 12-month probation period.
“We committed young people who joined the National Job Creation Programme that if they performed and did their work, that we would consider them to become permanent.
“We made that commitment to them when we hired them in the program last summer. And this summer, we began the process of engaging them.
“So, I can say that 99.9 percent of those individuals have now gotten their letters or will get their letters to indicate that they have joined the system. And they are placed on 12 months probation by the government, and I’m sure they will continue their excellence and become permanent in the service.”
While his comments came just two days before the general election, Rolle insisted that the move was not political.
“No politics were involved except the fact that every member of Parliament had an opportunity to identify persons from their constituencies who were placed in the various jobs.”
The economic fallout associated with the COVID-19 pandemic is still palpable in The Bahamas.
While there have been no recent official unemployment figures, it is evident that thousands of people are still out of work, despite the ramping up of the tourism industry over the past year.
In response to the unemployment crisis, the government has paid out more than $200 million in additional unemployment assistance since the pandemic's start.
However, Minister of State for Finance Kwasi Thompson said that the program would end at the end of this month.
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