Out of work labourers should have a new opportunity for employment in the coming weeks.

Minister of Public Safety and Housing David Burch has announced an initiative known as the Hustle Truck.

It?s designed to put people to work for the Government doing odd jobs like landscaping, general cleaning and painting. The initial work will take place at Bermuda Housing Corporation properties currently under renovation.

Senator Burch said: ?Members of the programme can choose to participate as often or as little as they like. While not mandatory, participation in various training programmes will be strongly encouraged to help develop important skill sets to assist in their ultimate employment in a traditional full-time job.? The Hustle Truck is a dedicated vehicle which will carry workers and equipment to various jobs around the Island ? HUSTLE being an acronym for Helping the Unemployed Sustain Themselves with Limited Employment. The truck will pickup workers at a predetermined location and drop them off there at the end of the day.

The vehicle will be run by two supervisors who will also be responsible for hiring workers even if they have a troubled past.

Sen. Burch added: ?The openness of the programme is specifically designed to decrease bureaucracy and allow persons to have an opportunity at employment despite past problems. Participants enter the programme with a clean slate.

?This is another step in this Government?s ongoing campaign to encourage all of our people to participate and contribute to what is the success of Bermuda by providing employment opportunities to some of those who have opted out.?

It?s not clear how many positions will be available, but the Minister thought about a dozen people is a fair estimate. The Ministry is also still working to come up with a suitable wage for the programme.

The Senator continued: ?I?ve seen some tentative figures which kind of raised my eyebrows. I have to go and do some calculations because it seemed overly generous to me. So we?re not quite there yet.

?But it will be comparable to the type of employment that we?re providing and it will match somewhat those who are in that kind of business in the wider community.?

The Minister forecasted that the project will be fully operation by April 2.