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BiggerDominican agricultural sector seeks temporary work permits amid labor shortage
Santo Domingo.- The Dominican agricultural sector is feeling the effects of a labor shortage following the deportation of approximately 50,000 Haitian migrants over the past month. To address this, the sector hopes to receive temporary work permits for foreign labor, particularly in agriculture and construction, until local workers can fill these roles. The Migration Department has begun discussions with the agricultural sector, and a process for issuing these permits is nearly finalized, according to the Minister of Agriculture.
However, some legislators from various political parties argue that allowing temporary permits for undocumented migrants goes against the law. They believe that business owners and farmers should focus on improving the benefits they offer to attract Dominican workers and promote the “Dominicanization” of these sectors.
In contrast, representatives from the agricultural sector stress that granting temporary work permits is crucial to maintaining national production levels in the short term. They emphasize the need to balance foreign labor while efforts are made to encourage more Dominican workers to take up jobs in the fields.
To many Dominicans without a job.
The government can not make them relocate and/or work. People forget this fact, it seems.
Imagine that. With the recent actions, who could have possibly foreseen this and more? Oh wait…
Government is too lax to foresee. Many people having some common-sense have foreseen this request from the agricultural and construction sectors coming to pass. Like it or not, Dominicans for whatever reason are not lining up to fill the labor demands. “You can bring a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.” The government cannot force Dominicans to work the fields or construction sites. It has to deal with this problem in a manner that gets the job done economically.
For example: what is government going to do about labor demand quotas for the large resort and infrastructure projects in Pedernales? There is not a sufficient supply of Dominicans there who are willing to work at legal wages to fill the labor slots. There is a large pool of willing foreigners readily available. Common sense says in order to keep these valuable projects progressing waivers should be allowed to increase the foreign worker quotas and work permits issued.