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  • Carib hotel sector over-taxed
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  • Contributed - Rodcliffe Robertson (right), human resources director of the Lucea-based Grand Palladium Lady Hamilton Resort and Spa, pays attention during a Jamaica National Building Society Advocacy Forum in Lucea last Thursday. At left is Andrew Gallimore, Minister of State in the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, and Ridley Badresingh, Rural Agricultural Development Authority parish manager for Hanover.

    Fiesta urges Hanoverians to get certified

    .. learn Spanish in the process

    Claudia Gardner, Hospitality Jamaica Writer

    Human Resources Director of the Fiesta hotel, under construction in Lucea, Rodcliffe Robertson, has joined in the call for residents of Hanover to get certified, in order to acquire jobs at the hotel.

    The1,600-room hotel, tagged Grand Palladium and Lady Hamilton, respectively, which is being built at Point Estate, is set to be opened in February 2008.

    Speaking in an interview with Hospitality Jamaica last Thursday, Mr. Robertson said the date for the commencement of recruitment has not yet been set, but the hotel is seeking to employ approximately 1,100 people.

    "We are encouraging persons within and around Hanover to get trained and get prepared, so that when recruitment comes they will not be left out."

    He noted that the resort would be employing persons in every aspect of hotel life, "From janitors to management, front office people, restaurants, bars, pools, watersports, entertainment - just about everything."

    "We are going to concentrate our efforts on Hanover and the immediate areas around the hotel," he said. He, however, admitted that he knew he would not be able to find all the personnel from that area so work is now being carried out with a number of training institutions in the parishes of St. James and Westmoreland as well, "To see how best they can prepare persons for these jobs."

    Mr. Robertson said he is also encouraging prospective workers to learn a foreign language in order to meet the needs of the resort's international clientele.

    "We are going to be having people from Europe and Asia - coming from just about everywhere so when its time for recruitment we are looking for the best."

    He stressed that persons coming in with a second language would automatically be at an advantage. "For those people who are being trained now, it is a smart idea to get that second language," he urged.

    "We are just going to try and get the best because Fiesta is a little notch above the other Spanish hotels, and we have to get the best people in who are going to deliver the best services to the clientele who will be coming from all over the world, much wider than what we are accustomed to."

    He added: "We are currently looking at the salaries that are being paid in the industry and we can guarantee you that we won't be at the bottom of the pack. We have not set salaries as yet, but most definitely because of the level of service we are going to be offering, we won't be at the bottom," he assured.

    In August, marketing officer at the Northwestern Region of the HEART Training Agency, Everton Dixon, chastised Hanoverians whom he said have not equipped themselves to capitalise on the imminent job opportunities at the hotel.

    At the time he said a vast majority of the residents of the parish who were applying for jobs at the hotel, have never sought to take advantage of the skills training being offered at the Kenilworth HEART Academy located at Sandy Bay in the parish. He warned that as a result many of the jobs could go to outsiders.

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