Boots boosts qualifications of unskilled residents with training
With the economic crunch bearing down hard and many businesses folding, chances are that landing a job may be more difficult than ever. Earlier today unemployed and unskilled residents of the Southside completed a training course that will provide them an opportunity to earn an honest living. For the past three days, the Ministry of Works facilitated development training sessions at the Belize City Center to prepare participants for employment with the Southside Rejuvenation and Poverty Alleviation Projects. Minister Anthony “Boots” Martinez, who was one of the presenters, says the skills training is a stepping stone for participants to uplift themselves and help their families.
Anthony “Boots” Martinez, Minister of Works
“What has happened over the last three days was the training session for them to understand the public service regulation and the work ethics; what is expected of them and what is expected of us. So that was very important to bring in key people over the last three days. You have myself, you have the chief engineer, you have the C.E.O. and you have the financial secretary who was doing presentations to let people understand the rules of public service, mek people understand that they are here as poor people to take advantage of the opportunity to make sure that we deliver quality work and value for money.”
Press Office
Anthony “Boots” Martinez
“Who is the target group of people who are being assisted?”
Anthony “Boots” Martinez
“The target people are unemployed people, people that have minimum skills as to develop their skills at the same time. I call it the sort of learn and earn employment where you learn to do a skill and at the same time you earn to feed your family. And I think that is very much important to us but we needed to instill the respect, the work ethics everything going on in regards to what we want to accomplish and achieve and show the Belizean people and ourselves, the poor people can prove to themselves that they are capable to accept the opportunity given to them.”
The residents will be doing mostly construction related work in the first instance and will earn one hundred and seventy-five dollars per week.
Boots should have attended the training himself…God knows he needs it !! An example of the blind leading the blind.
Great idea. Ladies, I am glad to see so many of you front & center & hope it works out. Boots, while you are addressing construction related issues, please consider some of the alternative building products that are being developed in the US & elsewhere.
The rice straw that we are burning, the hull/shell from the rice, the trash leftover after squeezing the juice from sugar cane, the clay soil that many of us dread trying to navigate especially up or down the riverbanks after a good rain are all products that we can use to reduce our dependence on imported building material. By using resources readily available, we can provide jobs & attractive, affordable homes for our people that are not combustible, along with cooking fuel in some cases, there is nothing like johnny cake & powder bun baked over a fire hearth or in a wood burning oven. We have the technology to reduce pollution if that is a concern. Artificial or man made products like styrofoam, plastic, etc can be recycled & thrown in the mix to create the things we need at an affordable price.
Challenge the UB students whose focus is on design and/or engineering to come up with a viable product that can be produced at home. Remember titye, bamboo, we have both growing wild, find ways to use them, we have brilliant minds, including many of those young people who are now sitting idle, challenge them to think outside the box.
Because of the problems we have had with mafioso tactics on the supply side of our construction trade, I believe that a Government run facility would face less of a threat & eventually prove to be profitable. Think about it Boots, IT CAN BE DONE.
Another photo op for the ghetto rat!!!
GIVE BOOTS A CHANCE………………………………..AT LEAST HE IS TRYING to up-lift the people.
More than CAN BE SAID FOR MOST ELECTED OFFICIALS.