PHILIPSBURG:--- The Minister of Public Health, Social Development and Labour, Mrs. Pamela Gordon Carty (MBA), along with the head of labor affairs met with the owners of Diamonds Resorts on Wednesday, January 22nd to discuss the positive way moving forward pertaining to the ongoing construction project at hand. During this meeting, the Minister of VSA expressed her objective to decrease the number of foreign workers on construction job sites and highly encouraged the project managers to look at hiring local and skilled workers. Both parties agreed to be in full cooperation with each other and promised to increase the number of local laborers once the project can financially sustain it. Bouygues Construction is known for importing and requesting permission for foreign workers in the construction field. As a result, Minister Gordon used this opportunity to champion her strong belief that more unemployed locals need to be given the opportunity to which the Manager of Bouygues was in full agreement. Management will be provided with a list of unemployed local construction workers from which some workers will and can be chosen to be considered for the ongoing construction projects on both Diamond Resort and Pelican. The owners of Diamond Resorts were contented with the meeting after having finalized on a positive note on the way forward. They are more than willing to provide the opportunities available to the local skilled workers once they have the information needed on hand. Parties left on a positive note that they will maintain contact with each other to guarantee a good working relationship. Minister Gordon-Carty is urging all unemployed and skilled workers to register themselves at the labor office to ensure their information is on file for any future opportunities as there are ongoing discussions with various parties.