Pinoys

Were we naïve to believe that hotel development in Anguilla was really meant to benefit Anguillians? Now, why do I ask that question? There is a website that advertises jobs available for Filipinos. It is called Pinoy Abroad OFW Jobs. It is hosted by the POEA. I have been learning some new words. Pinoy is a demonym referring to Filipino people. As I understand it, OFW stands for “overseas foreign worker”. If I get it right, POEA stands for the Philippines Overseas Employment Administration. This is their advertisement that caught my attention:

Could someone tell me who is advertising these jobs in Anguilla to unemployed Filipinos?

The employment agency in question is Skyworld Business Merger Inc. Who is Skyworld? Who is it working for?

Did I repeatedly hear our government representatives assure us that the jobs of bartenders, bookkeepers, chefs, truck drivers, kitchen helpers, maintenance men, sales coordinators, housekeepers, sales staff, and waiters and waitresses, would be reserved for Anguillians? I thought that in future, only nuclear physicists and neural surgeons would be permitted to be brought in from overseas. I thought relatively unskilled jobs were absolutely reserved for all the youngsters coming out of school. Not to mention all the experienced hotel workers laid off by the half-full hotels, or made to work three days a week.

Note the numbers of positions offered in this one advertisement: room attendants, 20. Bartenders, 20. Bookkeepers, 5. Chefs, 25. Truckdrivers, 10. Kitchen helpers, 20. Maintenance men, 15. Sales coordinators, 10. Housekeeping staff, 15. Sales staff, 10. Waiters and waitresses, 30. I make that a total of 180 jobs on offer.

Does anyone remember the Chief Minister’s words at the groundbreaking ceremony for Viceroy? He said then, “We agreed to this project because we believe we have an obligation to find the wherewithal for all Anguillians to find something to do. . . . We will prepare the country for the youth of tomorrow and this is why we went ahead to agree for this project.”

Is this Philippine advertisement evidence of a sell out? If so, who has approved it?

Or, does Anguilla now enjoy such full employment that there is a desperate need to bring all these Asian workers to Anguilla?