116 farm workers US-bound as Gov't balances lives and livelihoods

• June, 12 2020 à 14:30
• Jean-Claude Dorsainvil
• Choisissez le type de news
• 0 Comments

US Ambassador to Jamaica Donald Tapia (left) shares a moment with Andrew Gordon, one of the 116 farm workers scheduled to leave the island today for Washington, at a ceremony to dispatch them yesterday. (Photo: Karl Mclarty)
ZAVIA Mayne, the minister of state in the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, is seeking to allay fears surrounding Jamaican farm workers heading to the United States as part of the overseas employment programme in the middle of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
One hundred and sixteen Jamaicans are scheduled to leave the island today to work on Gebbers Farms, a leading producer of apples, pears, and cherries in Washington. But, with the US being the epicentre of COVID-19, there are fears that the farm workers could be putting themselves at risk.
Up to yesterday, the US had recorded just over two million novel coronavirus cases, with an estimated 114,000 deaths,
But speaking with the Jamaica Observer following a ceremony to dispatch the farm workers yesterday, Mayne argued that the risks of the Jamaicans contracting the virus are being managed.
“Certainly, we would have addressed our minds to the global pandemic, but at the end of the day, as we are more educated and informed about this virus and what the experts are saying, we recognise that COVID-19 is going to be with us for a very long time,” he said.
“Our position is to balance lives and livelihoods. This is a programme that has been of some vintage, 77 years in existence. On the two sides there are expectations: Our farmers who travel to the United States on an annual basis, they are expecting to go, and the employers who send for these farmers, they are expecting them to come.
“What we know is that protocols have been developed and, as a ministry, we ensure that we do our best in communicating and beseeching our workers to comply with the protocols. The employers have also given us the assurance that they, too, will take the time to advise the Jamaicans about the protocols and impress upon them the need to comply,” added Mayne.