Noel Thompson, Freelance Writer

WESTERN BUREAU:

Scores of Jamaican construction workers employed to the Groupo Iberostar hotel site at Lilliput, St. James, started heading home last Friday in an air of uncertainty about what their next employment would be.

Project manager, Javier Bethencourt, told The Gleaner on Wednesday that 70 workers would be made redundant every fortnight as phase one of the project is completed.

They are among approximately 2,000 workers, 200 of whom are Hispanic, who are to lose their jobs by April 1.

Mr. Bethencourt said that his company would be handing over phase one of the project to the operators by April 1. Phase one will consist of 350 rooms, which will generate local employment of about 400 persons.

Workers angry

"This means that we will not need many people to work leading up to that period. We may employ about 200 people to do finishing touches," he said.

Several workers vented their anger and disapproval last Wednesday, after the company redeemed their identification badges and denied them access to the property. They also complained about being owed salaries for over a month, while others were uncertain of their job status.

"Over the past two weeks dem lay off about 70 workers and right now we don't know what is happening. They are treating the Jamaicans badly and giving preference to dem Spanish counterparts. We have not been told why we no longer have jobs," several workers asserted.

Reports also surfaced that some Spanish nationals have been working illegally on the site, as they hold no valid work permits from the Ministry of Labour.

No truth

But Mr. Bethencourt flatly denied these claims.

"There is no truth to that. All our foreign workers have valid work permits. We have been sending home people. Some of them are not working as they should and the other reason is that work is complete so we need fewer people. I can't say exactly how many were sent home in the past two weeks, but it could have been between 20 or 30," he said.

Mr. Bethencourt said while phase one would be handed over to the hotel operators by April 1, he could not say by what date operations would commence.