Labour Minister Cooper W. Kruah has spoken of his administration’s “Liberia first Agenda” as one that is intended to ensure that Liberians are empowered to take charge of their own economy by creating opportunities for them.
He said in recent time, his administration has been very critical in granting Labour Work Permits to non-Liberians for work in Country, especially those that can be performed by Liberians. The Ministry has decided never to again grant permit to foreigners for such works.
Minister Kruah made these assertions on Friday, November 8, 2024, when the “Youth In Development For Better Liberia (YILBL) Inc. honored him for his effective administration of the Labour sector of Liberia.
The Liberia Labour Minister noted that those foreign workers recently denied work permits at Mittal Steel were applying for the position “mobile crane operator” a position Liberians are qualified to do. He used the occasion to request for qualified Liberian mobile crane operators to apply to the Employment Bureau of the Ministry of Labour for possible submission of their names to Mittal Steel for employment. Notting that the Ministry has since informed the company of the availability of Liberians qualified for the position.
“Today, an employment institution came to request for work permit for the position of Human Resource (HR) Manager. Is it possible that Liberians cannot do HR job that we need to grant work permit to foreigner for? We refused and rejected the said request.”
He emphasized that this fight is going to be a continue exercise as means of ensuring that jobs opportunities are provided for Liberians and that companies respect all labour regulations as it relates to preferences for Liberians in the workplace. He lamented that there are huge numbers of University graduates in the Country without jobs, saying; we need to utilize our citizens who are trained and qualified to work.
He spoke of other initiatives being explored to ensure that on job skills are provided to Liberians.
He thanked the group for recognizing the efforts being made by his administration at the Ministry of Labour and promised to look out for opportunities in the area of agriculture with partners to assist the group in undertaking its agriculture program.
Presenting the Honor, the Secretary General of the Youth In Development For Better Liberia (YILBL) Inc. said the objective is to create jobs opportunities for Liberian, mainly the youthful population to enable them provide for themselves for better livelihood through agriculture programs such as, getting involve with the productivity of food and cash crops.
He said their goal is to alleviate and reduce hardship among young people in this 21st century and are targeting young people who are desirous of engaging in Agriculture activities.
In closing, YILBL Executive noted “Honorable Minister, you being people’s oriented person and your belief in human development, we kindly ask for your support in order to enable us meet our aims through this Agriculture programs.”
