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Who is taking away Guyanese jobs?

Jul 31, 2016 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

The massive reduction in work permits since the new government came to power is a worrying development. It may be a factor, also, which explains the slowdown in business in the economy.

If there is any group that will be affected by the reduction in work permits, it is the Brazilians. There are hundreds, perhaps, even thousands, of Brazilians working in Guyana, and any reduction in work permits for them is bound to have an effect on the economy.

There is no evidence, anecdotal or otherwise, that the Brazilians are imposing social costs on the economy.  There is no evidence that they are placing pressures on free government services, such as health care and education.

They are not taking away Guyanese jobs on the coastland or in the hinterland. They are creating jobs in the economy. Most of these jobs are in the mining and in the trading sectors. They are providing cheaper supplies to miners. The businesses they have set up in Georgetown cater for their own people rather than Guyanese. They are not taking away Guyanese jobs. There is no evidence that they are taking away jobs. There is extensive evidence to the contrary. The presence of hundreds of Brazilians is no threat to Guyanese jobs.

The Brazilians were responsible for rescuing the gold mining sector in Guyana. Before they came, small and medium scale mining activity had been reduced. The Brazilians came with their technology, their investments and their better work ethic. They increased small and medium scale mining in Guyana and were responsible, when gold prices were low, for keeping the industry afloat.

Brazilians have for a long time been boosting local commerce and the hospitality sector. Brazilians are heavy spenders. They party a lot. If you go to the Pegasus, Aura, Palm Court and Gravity on Saturday nights, you will find the Brazilians enjoying themselves. They love the night life and they are keeping the Guyanese hospitality sector going. Sometimes there are more Brazilians in the night clubs than they are Guyanese.

A number of Guyanese hotels depend on the patronage of Brazilians for keeping their occupancy rates at a profitable level. Without the Brazilians, these places would close down.  The Brazilians can be seen all over Regent Street, not window-shopping, but with bags of purchases. Brazilians have set up shops and restaurants to cater for their own people. They are providing jobs for Guyanese in these places.

I cannot say much about Baroombar and Rio, but what I do know is that many Guyanese men in the United States are advising their fellow men that when they go to Guyana, they should visit these places. I do not know the attractions of those places, but I am told the entertainment provided by the Brazilians in those joints is second to none.

Guyana should be encouraging more Brazilians to come here. We should not be restricting their entry. They are good for tourism. They are good for commerce. They are good for businesses and they are good for our entertainment industry.

It is myopic for the government to pursue an immigration policy which is aimed at limiting work permits and admissions based on the need to protect local jobs. Which immigrant group is taking away jobs from Guyanese? None.

This sort of thinking belongs to the past. Guyana cannot be serious about regional integration if it is adopting such a restrictive immigration policy in a country with one of the lowest population densities in the world.

Guyana cannot be serious about a single economy for the Caribbean when it adopts such a policy. Free movement involves reducing immigration hurdles, not erecting same.  The policy is misguided. There is, within the Caribbean, free movement of university graduates.

Guyana cannot be serious about investment if it is adopting a policy of limiting immigration in order to protect local jobs.  No foreign company, trading or otherwise, is going to come here unless it is able to employ its own nationals in senior positions. No regional conglomerate is going to come here unless it is certain that Guyana will allow for its foreign staff to be transferred here on short notice.

This is how the international marketplace works. If Guyana’s immigration policy is stuck somewhere in the Stone Age, Guyana’s economy will end up right there.

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