Senior Minister Amory welcome efforts to establish Labour Management Information System

(SKNIS): Senior Minister and Minister of Labour in the Federal Cabinet, Honourable Vance Amory, has welcomed the February 06 to 09 Labour Management Information System (LMIS) training workshop that will expand the world of work opportunities to nationals of St. Kitts and Nevis.

Honourable Amory said that the system will provide statistical information that will be used in shaping policies and programmes that will have a positive impact on the local labour market. He added that there is also a regional component through cooperation with the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat.

“The purpose of the LMIS is “to acquire and establish a database which would be available to inform all of the [CARICOM-member] countries as to the availability of labour, and the availability of employment as well because the two things must go hand in hand. This will facilitate the movement of labour where it is required to facilitate the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) and the implementation thereof,” said Senior Minister Amory.

Rosa-Mae Whittier, Free Movement and Labour Officer in the CSME Unit, is facilitating several sessions of the training in St. Kitts and Nevis and other regional territories. She said that while there seems to be a lot of information collected in various countries, the analysis of such data is lacking.

“Ensuring that we have strong employment and labour policies based on data is absolutely critical to ensure the growth of our individual countries and our region collectively as we continue to overcome the [challenges] of globalization,” she stated.

Software for the establishment of the LMIS and the computers to operate it will be provided by the CARICOM Secretariat, which received funding for the project under the 10 European Development Fund (EDF).

The workshop is taking place at the Ocean Terrace Inn and is being attended by officials from the public sector, private sector and trade unions.