PHILIPSBURG--Labour Minister Emil Lee said on Wednesday that rumours circulating that large groups of construction workers are coming to the country to work are not true.
He told reporters that from November 2017 up to Tuesday, January 30, a total of 38 vacancies had been submitted to the Department of Labour by companies looking for workers in the construction field. These companies have either been submitting vacancies looking for workers or looking to bring in workers.
Thus far, Lee said, the ministry has granted just three employment permits in the construction field: two for plumbers and one for a painter. “So news about a large influx of construction workers is simply not true,” he stressed.
He said, however, that there is some amount of non-compliance in the construction sector and it appears that construction companies from abroad are coming to the country to operate, but are not following the rules (see related story).
