Rotarians donate classrooms for training in hotel sector
Published:Saturday | June 25, 2022 | 12:06 AMAlbert Ferguson/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
IN AN EFFORT to meet the demand for a trained and certified Jamaican workforce, the Negril Rotary Club donated a new $20-million classroom block to the Theodore Skills Training Centre in Westmoreland.
The skills training centre is being operated by the Theodore Foundation, a non-profit organisation,which, since 2004, has been empowering young people who are at risk of being exploited in human trafficking and the commercial sex trade by offering them opportunities for education, skills training and personal development.
According to Ramon Bremmer, president of the Rotary Club of Negril, this project was made possible by a Rotary grant in partnership with the Rotary Club of Calgary North, the Jamaican Canadian Association of Alberta, and the Rotary Foundation.
“We’re extremely pleased to be able to provide this [classroom block] to the citizens of the Negril community, especially to the unattached youths,” Bremmer said at Friday’s ribbon-cutting and handover ceremony.
“Rotarians from the Negril club are extremely proud to be handing over this building and equipment to the board of governors of the Theodore Training Centre,” he noted.
NEED FOR TRAINED WORKERS
Bremmer said that the new classroom block will provide a suite of hospitality services, and is outfitted with smart board technology, noting that it is timely as the hospitality sector is desperately in need of qualified workers.
“Now more than ever, we need training centres that will provide excellent training in the hospitality industry, where our youths will be able to achieve not only financial, but to have skills that they will use to transform themselves, the life of their family and their community as a whole,” Bremmer argued.
The Rotarian encouraged trainees to use the new buildings to get the best outcome from their training, and that they should care for it as if it were their home.
“We wholeheartedly hope that the community will own the Theodore Skills Training Centre like it’s their own home,” Bremmer pleaded. “We’re asking them to utilise equipment so that they can have the necessary skills so when they go out there into hotels, they can offer optimal service that will encourage our tourists to come back year after year after year, and they themselves can uplift their family.”
Meanwhile, the hospitality business community in Negril has welcome the expansion of the skills being offered, pointing out that there there is a great need for workers.
Richard Wallace, president of the Negril Chamber of Commerce, said with over 2,000 rooms now under construction in Negril, training to meet the demand for more qualified workers is of paramount importance.
“You have a huge task ahead of you to produce the number of workers that we need just in the Negril area alone,” said Wallace. “We need workers, trained workers, and that’s very important because there are a lot of people out there who can’t apply for jobs and are not qualified.”