Opposition leader Marlon Penn has said that some businesses in the territory are waiting sometimes more than six months to get work permits approved
Penn’s comments came at a press conference held by Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition yesterday February 2, where he addressed the issue of delayed work permits in the territory.
He said businesses have come to him expressing their displeasure with having to wait sometimes more than 6 months to get a work permit approved.
“Some businesses have expressed to me that some of their permits are taking as long as 6 months for some of them to be approved,” he stated.
“And these are employees whom has been with the businesses, employees whom stayed on during the lockdowns when businesses were trying to keep these persons because of their skills to keep them on staff in the importance of the business, and still are here struggling to get their employees back on the job and moving their businesses forward,” he added.
Penn also rubbished the claims made by the Minister for Labour and Immigration that the work permit delays are as a result of due diligence being exercised to prioritize local hiring and not as a result of a slow Labour processing system.
He said this recent issue is blatant evidence that the minister responsible for the subject is unable to properly manage the resources needed for the Department of Labour and Workforce Development.
Penn added that this mismanagement is creating additional and undue hardship to the businesses that are suffering as a result of the issue and therefore called for the minister to get the issue resolved as soon as possible.