Earl Moxam, Senior Gleaner Writer
A container ship waits to cross the Gatun locks near Colon at the Panama Canal last month. Panama's canal, one of the engineering wonders of the world, will, starting next year, receive the biggest facelift in its 92-year history. -Reuters
The Government is now preparing to seek job opportunities for Jamaicans on the new Panama Canal project.
This follows the Panamanian people's decision, in a national referendum last month, to support a massive expansion of the canal, with the addition of a new, "super-sized" lane.
This came almost a century after the existing shipping lane was completed, joining the Atlantic and Pacific oceans on both sides of the Central American country.
"The Ministry of Labour will be making the necessary contacts so that, if needed, we will be able to send some of our skilled workers to participate in the new project," Derrick Kellier, the Minister of Labour, confirmed in an interview with The Gleaner.
Already, said Kellier, officials in his ministry have begun exploring options for Jamaicans participating in the US$5.2 billion expansion project
Diplomatic channels
"We are keeping close to the situation and are looking forward to the opportunity, and through diplomatic channels we will be making contacts to make sure that we are up to date with the situation," he said.
Ruddy Spencer, Opposition Spokesman on Labour, is also optimistic about the job prospects for Jamaican workers on the new canal project, saying he hopes the Labour Ministry will exploit this opportunity to secure vitally needed jobs for many of skilled but unemployed workers.
Reflecting on the history of Jamaica and the Panama Canal, Spencer argued that this should stand this country's workers in good stead for the job opportunities that might arise on the new project.
"Certainly, the last time they used a lot of Jamaicans and some of them and their descendants are still living there and with the ranks of the unemployed growing here at home anything that can be done to relieve that burden would be greatly appreciated," he said.
Dr. Simon Clarke, one of Jamaica's respected educators, is very much part of that historic connection between Jamaica and Panama, and he is rooting for a revitalisation of economic and cultural ties between the two countries through the new canal project.
Panamanian heritage
Born in Panama to a Jamaican father and a St. Lucian mother, Dr. Clarke believes Jamaicans still enjoy a positive image in the land of his birth, which should stand them in good stead for some of the job opportunities that might arise.
"The skills that are required are likely to be somewhat higher than were required on the first project, but certainly, manpower will be needed and I don't think that Panama will be able to supply all the manpower to meet the demands of such a vast project, and therefore I see them spilling over into the Caribbean," he said.
Dr. Clarke also believes that with its proximity to Panama, Jamaica will be the first "port of call" for overseas labour for the new project.
Work is to begin on the new Panama Canal project in March next year, with completion scheduled for 2014.
It will facilitate passage of much larger container ships through the canal than those transiting the existing lane.
A ship pays as much as US$250,000 for each passage through the canal.
The existing canal was completed in 1914, 10 years after work started in 1904. More than 56,000 people worked on the construction of the American-led project, including about 31,000 people from the Caribbean.
