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Skilled unemployed J'cans abroad want to contribute here
BY NADINE WILSON Observer staff reporter [email protected]
Monday, June 21, 2010
SOME Jamaicans living abroad who were made redundant during the recession are hoping that they will be able to contribute to the development of the country through the utilisation of their skills here.
Chairman of the Jamaica Diaspora US North East Region, Patrick Beckford, told editors and reporters at the inaugural Observer Press Club last Thursday that his group plans to strengthen its focus on skills remittance.
"With the recession, a lot of Jamaicans with great skills that can be transferred to here are unemployed," he said. <span style="font-weight: bold">"We have master plumbers, master electricians, we have people who are in business</span>."
He said Jamaicans in the US are currently working on a skills databank, which will serve as a central point<span style="font-weight: bold"> for Jamaican-born professionals who might want to offer themselves as consultants to the Government in certain areas such as health and information technology</span>.
But Beckford said that a sore point among the Diaspora was that when the Jamaican Government wants a consultant in computer technology they tend to look for somebody with Asian roots, "because we think they know more about computers".
But David Mullings, Future Leaders Advisory Board member, said that Prime Minister Bruce Golding was open to utilising persons within the Diaspora for consultancy on either a temporary or permanent basis. He said the prime minister had raised the issue during a meeting with members of the Diaspora Advisory Board in January.
Mullings said the prime minister had mentioned then that the Crime Bill -- which is now before Parliament -- was stalled at the time primarily because there were insufficient draftsmen to help prepare it. He said he had also pointed to the need for more qualified surveyors to help with the processing of land titles for farmers who needed to get on with their livelihood.
Based on the discussion then, <span style="font-weight: bold">it was suggested that a website be developed where skilled professionals could register, which would in turn benefit the country.</span>
But with more pressing issues such as the International Monetary Fund agreement and mounting concerns over Jamaica's reputation abroad during the saga over the United States's extradition request for Christopher 'Dudus' Coke, the website has been put on the backburner for the time being.
"I would say that it seems to have been folded into the Knowledge Networks Plan that the UN has provided some funding for. So the knowledge network idea is that we are going to have a central database where, as a Jamaican oversees, I can register and say here are my skill sets; here is where I am willing to operate," said Mullings.
<span style="font-weight: bold">The Knowledge Networks for Connecting Jamaica project was conceptualised during the last Diaspora conference two years ago </span>when it was agreed that a database should be developed to better engage the Diaspora in the United Kingdom. The network is expected to benefit the country through the centralisation of skills, services and financial support available in the Diaspora in one set location.
The project is valued at euro 197,000 and is funded by the European Union and the Jamaica Diaspora Institute. The project was started in October of last year.
BY NADINE WILSON Observer staff reporter [email protected]
Monday, June 21, 2010
SOME Jamaicans living abroad who were made redundant during the recession are hoping that they will be able to contribute to the development of the country through the utilisation of their skills here.
Chairman of the Jamaica Diaspora US North East Region, Patrick Beckford, told editors and reporters at the inaugural Observer Press Club last Thursday that his group plans to strengthen its focus on skills remittance.
"With the recession, a lot of Jamaicans with great skills that can be transferred to here are unemployed," he said. <span style="font-weight: bold">"We have master plumbers, master electricians, we have people who are in business</span>."
He said Jamaicans in the US are currently working on a skills databank, which will serve as a central point<span style="font-weight: bold"> for Jamaican-born professionals who might want to offer themselves as consultants to the Government in certain areas such as health and information technology</span>.
But Beckford said that a sore point among the Diaspora was that when the Jamaican Government wants a consultant in computer technology they tend to look for somebody with Asian roots, "because we think they know more about computers".
But David Mullings, Future Leaders Advisory Board member, said that Prime Minister Bruce Golding was open to utilising persons within the Diaspora for consultancy on either a temporary or permanent basis. He said the prime minister had raised the issue during a meeting with members of the Diaspora Advisory Board in January.
Mullings said the prime minister had mentioned then that the Crime Bill -- which is now before Parliament -- was stalled at the time primarily because there were insufficient draftsmen to help prepare it. He said he had also pointed to the need for more qualified surveyors to help with the processing of land titles for farmers who needed to get on with their livelihood.
Based on the discussion then, <span style="font-weight: bold">it was suggested that a website be developed where skilled professionals could register, which would in turn benefit the country.</span>
But with more pressing issues such as the International Monetary Fund agreement and mounting concerns over Jamaica's reputation abroad during the saga over the United States's extradition request for Christopher 'Dudus' Coke, the website has been put on the backburner for the time being.
"I would say that it seems to have been folded into the Knowledge Networks Plan that the UN has provided some funding for. So the knowledge network idea is that we are going to have a central database where, as a Jamaican oversees, I can register and say here are my skill sets; here is where I am willing to operate," said Mullings.
<span style="font-weight: bold">The Knowledge Networks for Connecting Jamaica project was conceptualised during the last Diaspora conference two years ago </span>when it was agreed that a database should be developed to better engage the Diaspora in the United Kingdom. The network is expected to benefit the country through the centralisation of skills, services and financial support available in the Diaspora in one set location.
The project is valued at euro 197,000 and is funded by the European Union and the Jamaica Diaspora Institute. The project was started in October of last year.
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