By Lagi Keresoma<\/p>\n
Apia, Samoa \u2013 06 November 2023:<\/strong> The proposed government policy to involve the District Development Committees in the selection of Samoans workers under the Australia Labour Mobility scheme (PALM) and the New Zealand Regional Seasonal Employee (RSE) has received mixed reactions.<\/p>\n The District Development Committees were established to oversee and coordinate the $1 million District Development Program at the village level.<\/p>\n One of the proposed changes in the policy now under consultation between the Government and the program stakeholders allows a district to select their own contact person to deal directly with the program under a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that identifies their roles and responsibilities.<\/p>\n The Government also proposed an annual facilitation fee to be paid by the district development committee as part of cost recovery measures.<\/p>\n Several RSE and Labour Mobility operators told Talamua<\/em> that although they are happy that a policy is finally drafted, they however have reservations about engaging district committees in the program as they believe it would create more challenges such as nepotism and biases in the selection process.<\/p>\n Roles & responsibilities of District Committees<\/strong> The policy criteria also emphasized prioritizing opportunities on the socio-economic standard of an applicant with emphasis on those who are poor and vulnerable.<\/p>\n The District Committees must also enforce strict measures to manage worker attitudes while deployed and must play a role in resolving the worker-family issues.<\/p>\n Phase 1 consultations The policy which is in three core sections include:<\/p>\n
\nThe proposed changes identify the specific roles and responsibilities of the District Committees in verifying and endorsing applicants based on their honesty and character, no criminal record, healthy with no serious illnesses, \u00a0and should be between 21-40 years old.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>The consultation focuses on the policy set down by Cabinet\u2019s sub-committee based on a review by a Committee that dealt with challenges raised by Samoans under the schemes.<\/p>\n