Crane clamps down on illegals

THE CRANE RESORT will conduct daily checks on all sub-contracted workers to ensure that they are legally documented to work in this country.

The new policy came into immediate effect yesterday after 20 workers were reportedly rounded up, interviewed and removed from the St Philip hotel by the Immigration Department last Friday.

While Crane officials said the illegal workers were not hired by the resort but were employed by sub-contractors on the construction site, the hotel stated in a Press release yesterday that "from time to time, as part of the company's ongoing construction programme, The Crane utilises a range of small sub-contractors for various projects".

"These sub-contractors, based on the terms of agreement for their projects, are responsible for hiring their own workers and verifying their immigration status. All of the workers who were removed from the worksite were employed by sub-contractors

"The Crane has been fully co-operating with authorities, and resulting from Friday's occurrence, has instituted a new policy in which security is conducting daily checks of all sub-contracted workers to ensure their documents are in order before entering the worksite."

The Crane directly employs 431 workers: 329 in hotel operations and 102 workers on the construction site. (TM)