A delay in the final stage of the process for hundreds of Antiguans and Barbudans waiting to start work with Royal Caribbean Cruises has been linked to “internal issues within the company”.
In July, hundreds of nationals signed up and attended a week-long job fair put on by the global cruise company.
The venture saw an array of positions offered to local people, ranging from desk attendants to engineers and medical personnel.
Two months later however, the process is still incomplete.
Tourism Minister Charles Fernandez told Observer, “There are still some issues related to it, not just in Antigua but I am being told it’s right through.
“We have someone in the Ministry of Tourism to liaison with them and continue to see how we can get this completed. I think the people that they were doing the interviews, there were some issues related to that. Some of our people had problems accessing the final contact.
“This is something that we are working on to see how we can streamline it and make good on it, because as you know it is very important. A number of our people have applied. A number of our people were accepted and it’s just to finalise and get things back on track,” Fernandez said.
Five hundred of the people who signed up for the job fair were invited for interviews. Of those, 398 showed up and 368 were offered jobs on the spot.
Men and women aged from 18 to their late 30s showed an interest in acquiring one of the many jobs being offered by the cruise line.
Many of the job seekers told Observer during the event at the Multipurpose Cultural and Exhibition Centre that they welcomed the initiative and said the government and other cruise companies should make more opportunities like this available. They said there are many people in Antigua and Barbuda who are ready and willing to work in the cruise industry.
Fernandez also provided an update on the other cruise line job fair that should take place this month.
Earlier this year, Italian firm MSC Cruises announced plans to host such an event in September to provide more opportunities to Antiguans and Barbudans.
Fernandez added that about 100 people have already been screened in preparation for the company’s arrival this month.
