A MAJOR Australian company involved in the recruitment of Solomon Islanders under the Australia Pacific Labour Mobility (PALM) Scheme has raised concerns over the chewing of betelnut by workers under its establishments.
This concern was conveyed to officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and External Trade (MFAET) by a team from JBS Primo who are in Honiara this week to conduct interviews for more workers to join the more than 400 Solomon Islanders who are already with the company.
JBS Australia Palm Coordinator, Faamita Faalava said a number of concerns have been raised in relation to hygiene issues in the workplace and accommodations when local workers have access to betelnut in Australia.
“I think from a business perspective, we really need to address this issue, especially for potential team members that we will be recruiting,” she said.
Ms Faalava has recently encountered incidents with betelnut when a Solomon Islands worker under her mobilisation caused a delay upon arrival and was subsequently issued a fine for bringing betelnut to Australia.
With growing concerns, the company is looking at avenues to stop potential workers who continue to practice the habit of betelnut chewing.
“I’m not sure if it’s illegal bringing it to Australia, but we want to try and stamp it out from our workplace and even in accommodations because we are getting a lot of concerns raised,” she added.
Ms Faalava reiterated that as a company, JBS is in love with the Solomon Islands and even offered salary contracts to its workers to show how it appreciates its team members.
“It is that part with the betelnut habit that is a bit of an issue,” she added.
Amongst possible measures mentioned were that JBS would be looking to include this issue in their employment clauses so workers would fully understand that if they do not comply with company policies and procedures then they are not meant to be part of the team.
“We hope this would send a message and that is, we want to do the right thing and we want them to be good ambassadors for your country as reputation is everything,” Ms Faalava further reiterated.
The MFAET Trade Commissioner, Barrett Salato, acknowledged JBS for clearly stating its policy on the matter.
Mr Salato adviced that although it is not illegal to take betelnut to Australia, the Solomon Islands government would like to address the matter here in Solomon Islands before this product finds its way to Australia.
The Trade Commissioner said talks have been held with the Customs Division within the Ministry of Commerce, Industry, Labour and Immigration (MCILI) on ways to stop PALM workers from getting betelnut from Solomon Islands to Australia.
He assured JBS that the Labour Mobility Unit (LMU) and its partners would reiterate the company’s policy on betelnut to local workers who travel to work with JBS and its group of companies.
JBS is Australia’s largest meat and food processing company. This week they are in the Solomon Islands to interview around 120 potential Solomon Islands workers to select a total of 60 to 80 workers.
The workers will be employed under one of JBS subsidiary companies – Primo, which is Australia’s largest manufacturer of ham, bacon, salami and deli meats, supplying quality smallgoods to major retail groups across Australia.
– MFAET
