400 jobless to do community work in bid to weed out abusers

Over 400 unemployed, who have been registering for over five years, will be forced to roll up their sleeves and do community work for 30 hours a week, according to measures announ-ced in the Budget.

Of the 6,096 unemployed, 416 have been registering for work for five years and more, according to government statistics. Once they start doing community work they will earn 75 per cent of the minimum wage.

Sandra Sladden, Employment and Training Corporation chairman, said when contacted that this would be a pilot project to target long-term abusers but may eventually be revised to tackle a larger segment of the unemployed.

Dr Sladden explained that the measure would not be easy to implement, since it required finding enough work for those eligible, as well as ensuring constant supervision.

"We will start from those who have been registering for more than five years and then we'll see how to fine-tune the system," she said. In genuine cases of unemployment, this measure will be an opportunity to contribute to society and receive compensation.

However, its aim is to ensure that those who abuse the system and work illegally are forced off the unemployment register.

Those who earn an undeclared income through illegal employment will now have their time taken up with community work, making it difficult to keep up with both.

Dr Sladden argued that when a person registered for work for more than five years this was a clear sign that there could be abuse, and should not be tolerated.

"Why should taxpayers subsidise abusers?" she asked. She said the community work will mostly consist of low-skilled labour, such as helping out local councils and non-governmental organisations, but more details will be released when the scheme is officially launched. No target date has been given.

When announcing this measure last week, Finance Minister Tonio Fenech said this scheme would not apply to those following a training course.