Above: the Beaches Resort in Turks and Caicos

By the Caribbean Journal staff

The Beaches Resort in Turks and Caicos has made job offers to 145 of the staff at the former Veranda Resort that its parent company, Sandals Resorts International, purchased last month.

That figure came from the Ministry of Border Control and Labour, which had requested a report from Veranda and Beaches detailing re-employment of Veranda staff.

Sandals International announced its purchase of the former Veranda Resort Hotel at the beginning of the month.

The property, which is adjacent to the current Beaches Turks and Caicos Resort Villages & Spa, has been absorbed by Beaches and rebranded as the Key West Luxury Village.

According to Veranda, of a staff compliment of 187 workers, 156 applied to Beaches, 150 were interviewed and 145 were given job offers.

TCI Premier Dr Rufus Ewing said in a press statement that the Labour Department was present on the day of the closure of the Veranda to ensure that employees received their appropriate redundancy checks.

“Instructions were given to the Employment Services Unit (ESU) of the Labour Department to actively intervene in facilitating the employment of all Turks and Caicos Islanders who are qualified, willing and able to take up employment with Beaches, and we are confident that this will be done,” Ewing said.

The Premier also said that his government was continuing discussions on a Memorandum of Understanding applying to Sandals’ purchase.

The talks aim to acquire “more and improved educational, community, employment and financial benefits for the government of the Turks and Caicos Islands,” Ewing said.

According to the Premier, the Veranda has the highest percentage of local staff in TCI’s hotel industry.

“It is the government’s intentions to ensure that the increased number of Belonger employees continues,” he said.