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Last Updated: Feb 6, 2017 - 2:32:04 PM |
MINISTER FOR Grand Bahama, the Honourable Dr. Micheal Darville as he address senior educators assembled at the Ministry for Grand Bahama last Thursday. (BIS Photos/ Simon Lewis)
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FREEPORT, Grand Bahama – Minister for Grand Bahama, the Honourable Dr. Michael Darville in continuing with the Government’s commitment to doubling the investment in education and training, met Thursday with the principals and vice-principals of both private and public schools on Grand Bahama.
On the Minister’s agenda this time was garnering support for a Grand Bahama Industrial Career Seminar slated for September of 2013.
He explained to the very large group of educators assembled in the conference room of the Ministry for Grand Bahama, situated in the Harold DeGregory Complex that “this particular seminar, we intend to make it a very huge event, because over the last year we have been working very diligently to begin to ignite and lay the foundation for the growth and development of our industrial sector.”
Dr. Darville told the group that over the past year he has been traveling extensively throughout South America and around the world promoting Grand Bahama as the industrial capitol of The Bahamas.
He pointed out that Grand Bahama Island is blest with the deepest water harbour in the region with a depth of seventy feet, allowing it to handle some of the largest vessels in the world from here to the Panama Canal.
“Our last visit to the Panama Canal in corresponding with the Panama Authority, we have realized that on the completion of the Panama Canal at the end of 2014, Grand Bahama would be positioned as directly outlined by the World Bank as one of the largest transshipment centers in the transshipment triangle of Panama, Freeport and the Dominican Republic,” he stated.
Likewise, he pointed out that other regional port facilities like the one in Jamaica and the Port of Miami are ten years behind us. He explained that our direct competition is Charleston, North Carolina.
The Minister for Grand Bahama further advised that they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Panama Authority that could boost business at the container port in Grand Bahama.
“We will begin to see once the Canal is finished and the mega ships are able to pass through, we will begin to see something in Grand Bahama that we have never seen before,” he stated.
He drew attention to the many ships that already berth outside of the harbour waiting for entry. According to Dr. Darville, Grand Bahama Island has become a maritime center and we are a global player.
“Because we are a global player, our industrial sector is about to explode. We need to prepare our young men and women for what is about to come. And in order to do that, we must begin to teach them and show them the opportunities that are available and what they can capitalize on as a career.
“There is a lot of money to be made in the blue collar work force now. Gone are the days when all our children will be doctors, lawyers and all of us would be white collar workers. There are great opportunities in Grand Bahama in the industrial sector where there are large amounts of monies to be made,” he said.
The Minister recalled that only a few weeks ago he met with some key navigators and boat captains from the harbour. He then asked educators if they knew that the Grand Bahama Harbour Company does 3,200 moves in that harbour every year.
“It is a massive thing that is going on right in front of our eyes and we now as educators must allow our children to understand what this means and begin to get our bright kids involved who will be attracted to the industrial sector,” he stated.
Dr. Darville said the idea of which he was speaking came from a group of young men in the Grand Bahama community who deal with young people.
“But I have seen this opportunity steering in my eye every time that I go into the industrial sector. This is an opportunity that all of us who in the high school sector should capitalize on and begin to get our kids interested in, particularly those who are expressing interest in the technical and vocational field, to capitalize on what we are about to do come the 23rd of September 2013,” he stated.
Dr. Darville pointed out that it would be a joint venture between the principals in the schools of Grand Bahama, both private and public, the Ministry of Education, the Falcons Boy Club, Outreach Ministries, Ministry for Grand Bahama and the industrial partners inclusive of BORCO and Buckeye, Bahamas Industrial Technologies, Bradford Marine, Campbell Shipping, City Services, Freeport Container Port, Gold Rock Creek, Grand Bahama Power Company, Grand Bahama Ship Yard, the Hutchinson Whampoa Group of Companies, Pharmachem Technologies, Quality Services, Stat Oil, and a variety of small industrial groups.
“The purpose of this Career Program is to sensitize our young people and to get them interested in the technical and vocational field as well as the engineering, ship repair, ship navigation and more.
“This will open their eyes and we will have those individuals who are expressing interest fast tracked into areas where they can capitalize on the industrial explosion which is about to take place.
“I am excited about this. I know it is a complicated thing, but we definitely have the will here at the Ministry for Grand Bahama and with the Ministry of Education, I am definitely asking that everyone come onboard,” he said
Dr. Darville added that he has done some ground work and is proposing that the event be held at the St. Georges High School Gymnasium and playing field. He said that it is best suited and it is their intent to have a large variety of tents erected.
He said in addition to attracting individuals in the technical and vocational fields he will seek to attract others interested in careers in engineering, ship repair and ship navigation in the maritime sector.
“We even will be able to accommodate many who may be expressing interest in law because we want to introduce them to the possibility of maritime law, because we are about to construct an Arbitration Centre on the island of Grand Bahama.
“This will open an avenue for us to be able to mitigate and to able to deal with legal issues through arbitration here on Grand Bahama in the maritime industry. Grand Bahama is the maritime capital of The Bahamas. The College of The Bahamas has a maritime program in conjunction with Sony Maritime Institute in New York.
“We have a program in existence now and this program is a very dynamic program that we are about to expand as we begin to sought out many of the difficulties we presently have at the College of The Bahamas and begin to attract our students back to that institution,” he said
Dr. Darville suggested to the educators that the students attending the industrial seminar be from grades 10 – 12. He again stressed that all schools are urged to participate.
“This is not a public school thing. This is an opportunity for schools from throughout Grand Bahama.
“I have been in communication with the industrial sector for the last year. They are completely onboard in the direction we are heading in Grand Bahama,” he said.
The Minister said the time has come where we must prepare ourselves with training or we would find ourselves where young people would not be able to capitalize on these specialties and sub-specialty fields in the industrial sector.
“We believe that as educators we must now look at where the opportunities are, and we must now begin to direct our students where the jobs will be created. These jobs are not simple service based jobs. These are technical base jobs where people could make a decent living and could do extremely well financially for their families and for the growth and development of the island.
“I am excited about this because I see this as the way we should go every year, to begin to introduce our students and begin to now let them know where the jobs will be created,” he said.
Dr. Darville also advised that his Ministry is already working with many of the industrial companies like BORCO, to help train our young people in fields like welding, electrical installation and more. He also mentioned a number of areas at the Grand Bahama Shipyard in which Bahamians are also being trained.
He expressed that these programs are designed also to reduce the influx of expatriate works on the island of Grand Bahama.
“We believe that we have the skills here and we believe that if we train our individuals properly, these particular industrial sectors would begin to pull people from our work pool and reduce the demand for export labour,” he said.
The Minister also announced the National Training Program which is set launch around the 14th of May.
He explained that the National Training Program is a program that been established to begin to train individuals from all walks of life. He gave as examples programs associated with agriculture and a number of service based programs.
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