Yees Cold Storage Seafood director Richard Yee has called on the Coalition Government to fast track work permit applications of foreign workers seeking employment here.
This was highlighted by Mr Yee during a public consultation in Nadi attended by Deputy Prime Minister Professor Biman Prasad on Tuesday.
“We are not able to get work permits quickly because it takes longer than four months for the Immigration Department to process,” he said.
It becomes difficult for them to retain these applicants, Mr Yee said, if the process gets delayed because countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the United States were also trying to recruit them.
“This is our struggle and although we love to get graduates from university, we don’t have trainers to train them.
“If these new recruits make a mistake operating machines, it would cost the company thousands of dollars in repair costs.”
Responding to this, Prof Prasad said his counterpart at the Immigration Department Pio Tikoduadua had highlighted last week that Government would give early and focused priority to reform the immigration processes.
“The minister was very clear and I think he said the process would now take between two and four weeks and not months,” Prof Prasad said.
“Part of our problem is that we have two neighbours, Australia and New Zealand, who are aware that we have skilled workers and easy for them to get our teachers, doctors, nurses and civil servants.”
