Office of the Prime Minister

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Prime Minister P.J.Patterson(centre) on tour of the new Sandals Whitehouse Hotel, which is being constructed in Westmoreland.

The level of employment of persons living in and around the Whitehouse area of Westmoreland will improve in a few months, as the Sandals Whitehouse Hotel is scheduled to be opened by December this year.

General Manager for the hotel, Jeremy Jones, told JIS News that there would be a need for approximately 650 employees, when the 360-room facility opened for operation.

With that in mind, the Sandals Group in conjunction with HEART Trust/NTA's Culloden Training Centre, held an employment fair at the centre in Whitehouse, Westmoreland, yesterday (June 3).

The fair was aimed at identifying skilled persons in carpentry along with others who wished to be trained for work in the Sandals Whitehouse Hotel. It was pointed out at the fair that the need for skilled carpenters was immediate, as over the next three months the furniture and fixtures for the hotel would be put in.

Sections of the new Sandals Whitehouse Hotel, now under construction in Whitehouse, Westmoreland.

Prime Minister P.J. Patterson and Chairman of the Sandals Group, Gordon 'Butch' Stewart, addressed the over 150 students and other persons from Whitehouse and the surrounding areas who attended the fair.

Mr. Patterson urged the prospective recruits to approach their training with open minds, be prepared to be exposed to new approaches and to portray a pleasant personality at all times. "Some of the things for which Jamaican workers in the hospitality trade are known worldwide are their friendliness, their warmth, their charm and their smile," the Prime Minister said, and challenged them to keep the tradition going.

Mr. Patterson emphasised his personal commitment to tourism, and expressed pleasure at the establishment of the hotel in the Whitehouse area. He added that this deep commitment stemmed from the linkages which existed between tourism and other sectors of the economy, and the potential of the industry to add to the economic growth and social development of the area in which the facility is located.

Mr. Patterson encouraged the operators of the Sandals Whitehouse Hotel to make that facility an example of integrated tourism development, by encouraging interaction between the visitors and locals. "I want Whitehouse to be a sign to the rest of Jamaica, what we mean by integrated tourism development, and how everybody can benefit, whether or not you are directly employed to the tourism industry. Tourism matters to all of us," he stressed.

In his address, Mr. Stewart said the hotel being established in the Whitehouse area was projected to be not only the best in Jamaica, but also in the Caribbean region.

"This resort that's being built here is more than a piece of concrete. It is probably going to be one of the finest resorts in the Caribbean," he said.
The Sandals Group Chairman described the tourism sector as the lifeline for the future of the Jamaican economy.

He praised the efficiency, dedication and excellent work attitude of the Jamaican worker, crediting those attributes for the Sandals Group success at winning the award for the world's best 'All Inclusive' hotel for 10 successive years.

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