1,250 Students in ‘Spruce Up Jamaica’ Summer Employment Programme

Some 1,250 students are being employed in tourism related entities and businesses during the summer holidays, through the 2009 ‘Spruce Up Jamaica’ Summer Employment Programme.
The programme was launched by the Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett, on July 24, at the Jamaica Tourism Centre, in Montego Bay, St. James.
It is expected that the programme will give the young people from high schools and tertiary institutions across Jamaica, hands on experience in the tourism world of work, in the resort areas of Ocho Rios St. Ann, Montego Bay, Kingston, Port Antonio Portland, and Negril Westmoreland.
The objective of the programme, which is being administered by the Tourism Product Development Company (TPDCo), is to create an awareness of the importance of the sector and to encourage young persons to pursue a career in the industry. The programme will last for six weeks, with 500 already placed for three weeks and the remainder will begin their three weeks on August 3.

Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett (centre), with participants at the official launch of the ‘Spruce Up Jamaica’ Tourism Summer Employment Programme, in Montego Bay, St. James, on July 24.

In his address, Mr. Bartlett said that young people, especially those involved in the employment programme, have “a responsibility and a key role to play in keeping that youthful energy that Jamaica has in the tourism marketplace.”
“It is therefore important for us to allow you an opportunity to express that youthful energy, and so even before you are old enough to get into the marketplace as workers, we want to begin to give you an insight. And so the youth internship programme is really intended to give you an insight in this great industry that is giving Jamaica such a strong recommendation across the globe,” the Minister said.
“We want you all to appreciate that service has a value, and that service is one of the most important vocations that one can enter today. We want you to appreciate the discipline of work. We want you to appreciate also the dedication that is needed to be applied to work, and we want you to appreciate productivity and the importance of working with people,” he told the students.