After the devastating hurricanes of September 2017, the Dutch side’s tourism economy temporarily became a “construction economy” mainly with insurance pay-outs for related damage as well as Dutch funding through non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and the Trust Fund administered by the World Bank.
Some of these projects but also others were still either underway or pending when the COVID-19 crisis hit and that remains the case today. They help create much-needed employment in the building sector at least for now while the dominant hospitality industry rebounds.
Following a recent job fair for the St. Maarten General Hospital (SMGH) project, main contractor Ballast Nedam, government, Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIA) and National Institute for Professional Advancement (NIPA) will hold one for the airport terminal reconstruction (see related story) next week Saturday, December 18. They are looking for many labourers including warehouse officers, carpenters, drivers, electricians, a foreman (arch works), gypsum drywall workers, HVAC system workers, mechanical piping workers, painters, plaster workers, plumbers, steel metal workers and tile workers.
Surely, locals should be able to fill some of these vacancies. There are also others for an accountant, an architect, a civil engineer, a contract administrator, a document controller, a draftsman, an electrical engineer, a financial controller, HSE supervisors, an IT supervisor, a land surveyor, a mechanical engineer, a planning engineer, a QA/QC inspector, a QA/QC supervisor civil/arch and a QA/QC supervisor MEP NEN1010, a secretary, a superintendent electrical works, a superintendent finishing works and a superintendent mechanical works, a supervisor architectural and a supervisor electrical, as well as a warehouse manager, while subcontractors may also apply.
Jobless persons who qualify must not to let this chance to find gainful employment pass them by and show up between 11:00am and 2:00pm with a valid identification card and their resumé. Those able, but who choose not to go have little cause for any complaints later if expatriates need to be imported to do the work instead.
