Public Works: Sixty Summer Students Employed

Yesterday [June 3] Minister of Public Works Derrick Burgess spoke about the summer student employment initiative within his Ministry.

“I am pleased to advise that our Ministry accepted its first group of returning university students on May 2nd as well as a number of Bermuda College Students,” said the Minister. “We were to create 60 spots which are now all assigned to these students. This is nearly double the number we were able to take on board last summer in our on-going commitment to do our part for the students.”

It is projected the Ministry will spend approximately $345,000 on this initiative, with the salaries ranging from $400 p/w for high school students, $500 p/w for Bermuda College students, and $575 p/w for university students.

The Minister’s full statement follows below:

Mr. Speaker, I rise this morning to provide the Honourable Members of this House and those listening by way of radio of the Summer Student Employment Initiative within the Ministry of Public Works that commenced last month.

The objective of this initiative is to ensure as many students from high school to university level had gainful employment during their extended summer break.

Mr. Speaker, each summer the Ministry of Public Works is inundated with requests from students and the parents of students to secure employment within the particular fields they may have chosen to study.

Coupled with this are the standard requests for less specific employment where students are simply trying to earn funds to support higher education.

With the expected surge of applications from our students, along with the many concerns relayed to me from students and parents because of the lack of jobs that would be available to them this summer, I determined that because of the economic downturn my Ministry would do its part to take on as any students as possible.

As a result, I met with my Acting Permanent Secretary and Chief Financial Officer and meticulously reviewed our budget to see where we could find some funding to support our students. Training and travel were the areas identified and as such, we are now in a position to take on nearly double the amount of students we had in the summer of 2010.

After my meeting with the PS and CFO, I requested they meet with the Heads of Departments within my Ministry to locate as many positions within their areas that we could place the students for the summer. As a result, we were able to find positions in the areas of;

• Accounting;
• Purchasing and Supply,
• the Asphalt Plant at the Government Quarry,
• the road crews within the Highways Section,
• the Aquarium Museum and Zoo,
• the Solid Waste Section;
• the Tynes Bay Waste to Energy Treatment Facility;
• Telecommunications,
• Human Resources,
• the Water Section; to,
• Safety and Health.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to advise that our Ministry accepted its first group of returning university students on May 2nd as well as a number of Bermuda College Students. We were to create 60 spots which are now all assigned to these students.

This is nearly double the number we were able to take on board last summer in our on-going commitment to do our part for the students.

Based on these efforts, it is hoped that the Summer Student Employment Initiative will further reduce the number of unemployed young person’s during the long summer which could result in less desirable activities…..and thus compound our social issues.

Mr Speaker, to accommodate as many students, the Ministry also revised its existing pay schedule for summer students based on our consultation with the banks and other private companies to ascertain what their summer students would be remunerated for a week’s work.

It is projected our Ministry will spend approximately $345,000.00 on this initiative…..with the salaries ranging from $400/week for High School Students…..$500/week for Bermuda College Students….to $575 week for University Students.

We look forward to having the students with us this summer.

Thank you Mr. Speaker

#BermudaTeens #EmploymentInBermuda

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