NASSAU The Bahamas -- Minister of Labour and Immigration, the Hon. Keith Bell said in keeping with the government’s commitment to develop partnerships with the private sector and reduce the level of unemployment in the country, the Ministry of Labour & Immigration in conjunction with the Department of Labour has launched a new initiative.

Minister Bell spoke during a press conference at the Ministry of Labour Wednesday, May 4: “As minister with responsibility for the Department of Labour, I am extremely pleased to announce the launch of “Labour on the Blocks (LOB) 2.0.”

In the fourth quarter of 2015, the Department of Labour initiated a program that was then dubbed Labour on the Blocks. It was spearheaded by the Public Employment Services Unit (PES) and designed to reduce the high level of unemployment in New Providence by the utilization of a number of public parks, throughout New Providence to hold job fairs on Saturdays.

‘(LOB) 2.0,’ is similar to the 2015 program but has been expanded to include a number of new and exciting features. While the ultimate goal is to reduce the level of unemployment in the Labour Market and bring together jobseekers with employers, the new features of the 2.0 version will enable both jobseekers and employers to have access to additional services offered by the Department of Labour and other government agencies.  Some of the new features of LOB 2.0 include but are not limited to:
• Expansion beyond New Providence where at least one Job Fair will be held on a Family Island where there is a Department of Labour Sub-Office during the 2022-2023 period.
• The Utilization of public schools to host job fairs, which will reduce the overall cost of hosting the events.
• The involvement of a number of community based groups, churches and NGO’s to publicize the job fairs to ensure more participation and attendance from members of the community.
• The utilization of the government agencies i.e. (BTVI, NTA and UB) and other Private Institutions at the job fairs to enable Jobseekers to access services to better prepare them to obtain gainful employment.
• The utilization of the Department of Labour’s Communications Unit to live Stream for each Job Fair making the event inter-active and attractive to younger jobseekers.

Said Minister Bell: “On Saturday May 7, the Department of Labour will hold simultaneous job fairs in New Providence and Grand Bahama. The focus will be on inner-city communities, Minister Bell said. The New Providence job fair will be held at the Columbus Primary School grounds located on Collins Avenue and Wulff Road. The surrounding areas targeted for this job fair are the communities of Englerston, Centerville and St. Barnabas. I wish to confirm that an excess of 30 employers have confirmed their attendance and are expecting to hire persons at the event.”

Additionally, Minister Bell said, BTVI, NTA and the LJM Maritime Academy will be in attendance to provide new and exciting training and certification opportunities to members of the public.

The Grand Bahama job fair will be held at the Jack Hayward High School gymnasium located on Jubilee Drive. The Department of Labour in Freeport has confirmed over 20 companies will participate as well as BTVI, NTA and the LJM Maritime Academy. A new and exciting feature at the Grand Bahama fair will be the Royal Bahamas Police Force and the Royal Bahamas Defence Force, which have confirmed attendance to begin to recruit young Bahamians wishing to join these two institutions.

Director of Labour Robert Farquarhson said persons attending the job fairs should bring their government identification, resumes and dress for an interview if seeking employment.   (BIS Photos/Ulric Woodside)