SIG Not Aggressive

BY RICHARD TOKE

THE GOVERNMENT is doing very little or nothing at all to entice locals to be recruited as part of the workforce to be employed under the Recognised Seasonal Employment (RSE) scheme in New Zealand.

Statistics produced by New Zealand's Department of Labour has revealed that some countries – such as Kiribati, Samoa, Tonga and Vanuatu – had their worker numbers increased remarkably this year, a result of both the marketing by regional governments and growing understanding and friendship between New Zealand employers and the community.

Recognised Seasonal Employment (RSE) National Manager, Emily Fabling said Kiribatii, Samoa, Tonga and Vanuatu Governments have embarked on a massive promotion to hire workers for the farms and orchards in New Zealand.

Records have shown that for the past three years, neighbouring Vanuatu with a far less population to Solomon Islands has sent a total of 6,831 seasonal workers to Zealand where as Solomon Islands can only manage 819 workers for the same period.

A worker is paid NZD$13 or SBD$65 an hour and some return to the islands after completing their term with amounts varying from NZD$1,000 (SBD$5,000) to NZD$16,000 (SBD$80,000).

Ms Fabling said Solomon Islands may be disadvantaged because of no direct flights to New Zealand and the huge cost of airfare involved but said countries like Kiribati still did reasonaly okay because of the suport rendered to them.

Sometimes New Zealand employers decide where and who to recruit in the Pacific island countries, but the Labour Department visited these employers and the workers regularly as part of their audit programmes.

Meanwhile there are a total of 72 overstayers since RSE was introduced four years ago.

Fabling could not say how many from each island, but said it was advisable for these workers to depart voluntarily rather than be deported.