WESTERN BUREAU:

Being made redundant from your job at a time when the global recession is battering Jamaica is hard enough.

Being made redundant close to the time when your children are making back-to-school preparations makes the anxiety even greater.

Several parents in western Jamaica are facing this reality with the start of the new school year a mere week away.

Just ask Judith Bryan, Damian Smith from St James, and Pauliefrom St Elizabeth, all of whom have children to support.

Bryan worked more than five years at a resort in Montego Bay before she was made redundant last year.

Smith was working at an information communication technology (ICT) centre at the Montego freeport before his redundancy in April.

no money

Paulie worked on an overseas farm-work programme for several years, but has not been recalled since last year.

"I have been affected real bad. There's no money to spend," lamented Bryan, who has three children in school.

She expresses her wish to find another job, and wants to dispel the perception that redundant workers have a lot of spending capital.

"People feel that you have a bag of money," she explained.

Smith is the father of an 11-month-old baby and another child who attends school. He, too, wants a job soon, and is well-qualified for any job in his chosen career.

"I'm a computer technician. I recently completed a mechanics course, and I'm good at graphics design," he declares.

Paulie has three children in grades six, nine and eleven. He currently does a little farming and raises chickens, goats and pigs - with help from his two sisters. He is also skilled at masonry and carpentry.

"I haven't got much help with back-to-school," he remarked. "I'd heard that Kern (Spencer, member of parliament (MP) for North East St Elizabeth) was doing a back-to-school thing, but it was too late (to take advantage of it)."

Councillor for the Frome Division, Paul Wilson, told The Gleaner that the layoffs at Frome Sugar Estate since June 2008 had severely affected back-to-school preparations.

Approximately 1,000 persons were sent home.

"There has been a fall-off of school attendance, by 50 per cent at some schools, and malnutrition in primary schools," said Wilson.

"I predict that come September, the school attendance level will not be the same as last year."

invited to interface

Wilson also revealed that before the redundancy exercise, several institutions, including the Rural Agricultural Development Authority and HEART, were invited to interface with the constituents.

"Nothing practical was done, it was more of an awareness exercise," he remarked.

"The MP (Roger Clarke) has requested $3 million through the Constituency Development Fund to cover back-to-school assistance; however, only half of that money was given."

Other small businesses in the Frome division have been affected by the sugar factory layoffs, with some resulting in closure.

Name changed upon request.