On Friday we told you (See From the Hood to the Hills) about 50 at-risk youths from the city who found jobs at the Chalillo Dam site through Youth for the Future's Violence Reduction Unit.
As planned, the first set headed up to the project site yesterday to prepare for their first day of work today. But when they arrived at the site, 10 of the 13 who showed up with their letters of employment were sent back by BECOL's contractor on the project, Sino-Hydro. Why? Well if you hear the youths tell it, it was just plain old discrimination. The youths claim this because of the 13 who showed up, Sino-Hydro chose the 3 among them who were light skinned and Hispanic descent. It is a strong allegation and one we stress is a mere allegation by the youths.
Douglas Hyde who arranged the job placement for the youths told us he is heading to the project site tomorrow to assess the situation. Hyde stresses that all hope is not lost for the youths and through the labor office in Cayo he hopes something can be worked out.
We were unable to reach the contractors at Sino-Hydro by phone since there is no service in that area. For its part BECOL, which contracted Sino-Hydro to build the dam, told us Sino-Hydro is a private company and they cannot get involved in who they hire. We will continue to monitor developments.
