Minister of Labour and Social Security, Pearnel Charles, has disclosed that there have been requests from American companies for 5,000 Jamaicans to be employed on farms in the overseas employment programme.

"We are very fortunate. Up to the middle of August last year, we have had requests from American employers for 5,000 Jamaicans. We sent off 200 last week and between now and August, we will be sending them off weekly," he said.

Charles made the disclosure during Prime Minister Bruce Golding's 'Jamaica House Live' radio call-in programme recently.

The minister said that the skills required were "simply agricultural".

He added that some 6,000 agricultural workers were available to work in Canada, and that a programme is being developed for other skills there.

Skilled workers

"British Columbia is building a programme for two years from now, so the skilled workers can go there," he said, noting that some of the jobs were in the construction and hospitaility sectors.

Charles said that women would be in the mix for employment, as most of the workers in the mushroom, apple and grape-growing areas in Canada were women.

"The hotel workers are women, and the health workers are also women. We have nearly 500 health workers being trained, between the UWI (University of the West Indies) and other health institutions in Jamaica, for British Columbia," he stated.

Charles said that one of the biggest problems facing the ministry was meeting the global demand for skilled, certified Jamaican workers.

"Certification is a problem, literacy is a problem. Once we get over that, we can move forward," he declared.

He said that about 2,500 youths per month were being trained for the Canadian market.