(CNS): Tourism Minister Kenneth Bryan has admitted using a “scare tactic” to reduce by half or even withhold stipend payments from tourism workers who lost their jobs last year as a result of the national lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic and have remained unable to earn a living because of the ensuing collapse of the tourism sector. The minister has said this ‘hoax’ didn’t go down very well and that it was a political misstep to threaten to pull the support later in the year. He said it was intended to encourage workers to register with WORC and find new jobs, as he was worried the payments might make people reluctant to do so even as the borders reopen.
Speaking on Radio Cayman’s “For The Record” show on Monday morning, Bryan said the CI$1,500 stipend was to provide financial help to people who were left without work when the borders closed.
But as the phased reopening plan begins and the tourism industry is recruiting to fill thousands of vacancies, government is trying to get everyone to register with the government job portal so they can match people with jobs and reduce the number of permit holders across the industry. Bryan said he was in “a battle” with some of the larger tourism employers who do not want to hire locals and it was his goal to change that.
Bryan told Orrett Connor, the show’s host, it was on this basis that he had first implied the stipend could be stopped for those who failed to sign up and then, as the borders begin opening later in the year...
Read Full Story: https://caymannewsservice.com/2021/08/bryan-admits-misleading-threat-over-stipend/
Your content is great. However, if any of the content contained herein violates any rights of yours, including those of copyright, please contact us immediately by e-mail at media[@]kissrpr.com.