Minister reveals plans to extend NiCE work
(CNS): With the pandemic hitting tourism workers especially hard, the government-funded seasonal clean-up, the National Community Enhancement (NiCE) Project, attracted 742 people, considerably more than the last time it was held. Commerce Minister Joey Hew has now revealed plans to expand the programme into a longer more permanent job creation and training scheme.
“Over the years, we have developed the project into a multi-agency programme, including WORC and others, that play a pivotal role in the employment and training of our people,” Hew said.
“I think we are at a place where we can extend the programme. We can look to start partnering with other agencies and perhaps extend the project over a longer period of time and use it as a training programme, a second chance programme, a bit of a rehabilitation or on the work training programme for some of the folks who are fully able and capable of working but for whatever reason unable to find full-time employment at this time,” he added.
With COVID-19 still limiting gatherings to under 500 people, smaller groups than usual were deployed this time around. The teams worked with supervisors from WORC, the Department of Environment, Public Works Department and the National Roads Authority. Some groups were also assigned to the Mosquito Research and Control Unit and the Agricultural Grounds.
As well as clearing scrub, roadside remediation work and clearing beach accesses, NiCE teams tackled general maintenance work at the Agricultural Grounds and the refurbishment of the truck scale at the George Town Landfill.
The group of recruits included 110 people over the age of 60, and 283 workers signed up for the first time. The largest number of workers came from the district of West Bay, where 271 people applied for work. The programme took place from 7 to 18 December 2020 and again 11 to 22 January 2021.
NiCE Programme Winter 2020/Spring 2021 Analysis
| District | Male | Female | Total Applicant | Age 18-35 | Age 36-60 | Age 60+ | Caymanian | Married to Caymanian | Returning Applicants | First time Applicants |
| George Town | 136 | 113 | 249 | 94 | 113 | 42 | 216 | 33 | 158 | 91 |
| West Bay | 143 | 128 | 271 | 85 | 142 | 44 | 258 | 13 | 172 | 99 |
| Bodden Town | 71 | 53 | 124 | 60 | 50 | 14 | 116 | 8 | 65 | 59 |
| North Side | 24 | 24 | 48 | 25 | 16 | 7 | 48 | 0 | 35 | 13 |
| East End | 26 | 24 | 50 | 29 | 18 | 3 | 46 | 4 | 29 | 21 |
| Total | 400 | 342 | 742 | 293 | 339 | 110 | 684 | 58 | 459 | 283 |
Category: Jobs, Local News
All the concerns you raise is both Moot and irrelevant! This is about joey’s re election not your regard on how our government waste money? Comprendi!!!!! Him on the other hand like the rest of the political scum in his party are extremely concerned that you see this payoff as his concern for you and your family even though he knows its only short term and after he gets your vote in the up coming election he will neither worry or give a flying F$#@% about you nor your families dire situation. After all he just bought you like a cheap prostitute.
Joey Who looking votes. Won’t get mine!!!!
You laughing?? Poor people out ya suffering and unna giving away millions of dollars to unna millionaire friends, while all we poor people get is a 100 dollars a week work. You must want me fly in yo bird chess!!
Go get a job, there are plenty out there you simply need to apply and be willing to actually do the work.
Election coming!!!!’!!!!!!!!
Please tell me why a retired master carpenter, who has actively supervised and trained NICE workers in the past was assigned to chop bush and paint kerbs this time around?
Needless to say no one got trained or supervised properly this go around! Totally wasteful of human capital & lifelong earned skills sets!!
If this person is retired, why are they taking a job from someone of working age?
He needs to eat!
Unemployed, homeless and hungry, retired because no one will hire a 60+ Y/O productive worker! Any more stupid questions?
He should have saved for retirement like the rest of us.
To train the younger ones.
We have people that perform a service. That service shouldn’t stop after Christmas.
I recently was in the Brac. The roadsides look great. I see an improvement all around Grand Cayman. I regret that I can’t personally report on Little Cayman.
This is a necessary service. Why shouldn’t the government fund the continuing of it with our money? I mean, it IS our money that we all pay with duties and other things. I would like to have more say in how our money is spent, however I wholly support this expenditure.
I have heard people complain about how much these “walking wounded” earn. I am up in age, and still chop bush and let me tell you, it is hard work. Any kind of stoop labour is hard work. Hell yes, I take a lot of breaks!
Money well spent.
While I get your point about it being our money, I have to ask why we are paying anyone to do the work when it should be classified as public service. We have so many people breaking traffic laws and inmates being paroled who should be required to do this as punishment/penance.
Skylar was told to do community service too, wasn’t she? Where did she do it, and who was in charge of her while she did it?
She was sent to jail instead.
I would rather our money be spent on locals working for it. Some of these people are at the end of their rope and the alternative is for them to be completely NAU dependent.
Did anyone notice Joey is getting the entire Marbel Drive paved? Traffic stretching for miles while he uses our money to pave the street to his house and guarantee the folks in that area vote for him..
These guys have gotten so proficient and blatant in their vote buying that they no longer have any shame and will actually promote that they are doing it for everyone to see.
I vote in GTN and Joey has not as much as called, stopped by or written to me and if thinks that coming and paving streets at the end of his term is going to get me to vote for him, well, that ain’t happening! Period!!
Much of Marbel Drive is in private ownership. You should check it out…
Especially if its isn’t your street!
Living there Joey breathes in the dump air everyday… messed with this brain cells obviously.
If a street is private then the National Roads Authority will not repave it on the Govt’s dime. If Marbel Drive is being repaved, and it is a private road, then the residents are paying for it. I’ve known Joey and his family for 30+ years and they are honest, hardworking and decent people. They just don’t stand up and shout from a loud speaker about all the good that they do; they just quietly get on and do it.
Govt does pave private roads / driveways on our dime; you have a very short memory; perhaps the picture of JuJu sitting in a steamroller might refresh it?
Needy Indigents Cost Everyone
IF that is true, don’t you want some value for your money?
I hope you never get old. You can take that two ways. 😀
Alden admitted plain abd clear at the briefing last week that the tourusm stipend was never to replace a salary because “nobody can live on $1000 a month here”.
Just a quick reminder, current ‘minimum’ wage – $6.00p/h x 8hrs p/d x22 avg working days a month is $1,056 a month. Thanks for the clarification Mr Premier!
that $56 represents almost 3 cases of 345, so in truth, Alden was correct.
It would be NICE if Caymanians could get full time work in Cayman Joey !
There are plenty of jobs, you have to be competent and qualified for them first. Joey would be more concerned there isn’t a trade school here.
There are plenty of jobs, you have to be competent and qualified for them first. Joey should be more concerned there isn’t a trade school here.
When are these fine folk coming to address/deal with Prospect?
Prospect is the new West Bay
You mean the crack heads on marina dr?
Nice = groups of 6 scowling old people standing half in the road around a candy wrapper telling each other to pick it up.
You try it for a day. You work in the hot sun and see if you think the pay is worth it. Just one day.
We suck at taking care of our elderly. I am ashamed when I see elderly folk on the NICE crew. Whatever they did with their lives, their dues should be paid.
Hard-hearted people like you have forgotten what it was like to work even though you hurt.
Could we maybe employ some to stand by the roadsides near roundabouts, or anywhere with a turn and shout at people in cars to use indicators?
It can’t be less worthwhile than getting them to paint kerbs yellow.
… or have them record all of the infractions at stop signs, traffic lights and roundabouts so the police can send them tickets in the mail. The ticket revenue would more than offset the cost of employing them. If the terrible drivers feel the pain financially they may improve their driving. If not, there needs to be a way to disqualify people who have too many tickets.
Isn’t spending other peoples’ money grand? Especially at election time …
This is pure bollocks Joey needs to go asap for the sake of Cayman. Where is the auditor general?
Where are the police?
Securing dem votes!
PPM and Joey buying votes. They accused McKeeva of vote buying when the UDP started the NICE program. Joey is the PPM younger version of Mac. Politics is a helluva thing.
Vote buying with public funds. Joey Who knows he’s in trouble and will do whatever it takes to keep his job and protect his masters in Camana bay.
A picture says a thousand words doesn’t it.
I guess if that’s a meme, we are the crutches.
You may question his motives, but this is a cause worth funding.
The Best-Branded CIG programme ever!
Imagine!
So we are paying people to do what other Government departments are already paid to do but don’t. Our Government sure does know how to waste our money.
Cayman should use this down time for urban product/safety enhancements and beautification projects. Now is the time to put in level pedestrian/wheelchair sidewalks throughout the Hotel Tourism Zone, down the east side of West Bay Road from Kimpton to South Church, along with delivering the proper cordoned-off bike lanes promised and budgeted to NRA from 2015. Plant some shade, and/or flowering hedges and plants along our ugliest roads. How about Chamber suggest member service businesses volunteer a token 10%-off merchant bills for people that aren’t driving? How about installing speed limit signs along WBR for tourists, clueless, and rogue taxis? Where is the crowd-sourced suggestion box for easy cost-effective victories? That would be NiCE.
The NRA budget needs to go to corrupt former politicians and so can’t be used for bike lanes, sorry.
Completely agree. We should have as many bikes on the road as cars. I would ride more if there were a safe lane to do so. I always feel endangered when I’m riding.
You look at an aerial view of New York City, and you see green and lots of it. Here, there are lots of blue pools, but precious little green.
Yes! Its scary how many trees and green areas are being cleared on this little island every day. And yet we all talked a bunch of hooey about climate change a few months ago, when hurricanes were whizzing by us every few days.
Buy them votes yes Joey. Paving Marbel too?
At least that’s a better photo of little Joey than the last one I saw
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 you too mean!