Screening committee in place

THE Labour and Industrial Relations Department has a committee which screens the qualifications of foreigners seeking employment in the country, an official says.
Labour Secretary Mary Morola said the committee would also seek the assistance of PNG embassies overseas in the process.
“Some of the things that we cannot check properly, we send them to the foreign embassies to check with their host countries and send them back to us,” she said.
“The main criteria for issuing a permit is proper qualification.
Most applications that come to us already have contracts of employment signed with the employers.
“We look at qualifications, job experiences and whether it is the right job for the applicant.”
Morola said the department had a screening process which the committee used.
She said one of the qualifying conditions was that the employee must have been working in an English country for two or more years.
“There are conditions under the law that talks about working in an English-speaking country for a minimum of two years,” she said.
She said companies engaged the workers while the department only facilitated and formalised their permits.”
“We have our inspection and compliance team that carries out its normal inspection every year.
“They compile a report for the department for consideration by the enforcement and compliance division in the work permit section.”