A new drive to put 101 people back to work will have a budget of about $1 million.

The Minister of Public Works, Lieutenant-Colonel David Burch, announced the “101 Jobs for 101 Days” scheme yesterday.

Colonel Burch said the programme was “not a gimmick, but real employment for people right now”.

The jobs will be temporary ones at first.

Colonel Burch said: “I am certain that some full-time work will come from this exercise as private contractors working with us will observe the work ethic and habits of some of the workers.”

He added that the first group of 20 workers would start to clear trash from the former Club Med site in St George’s on Monday and that all employees would be paid $525 per week.

Colonel Burch said the East End site would take “several weeks of work” to clear.

He added: “The remaining participants will be administratively processed to commence work the following week.”

He identified two other projects — the renovation of the former Hamilton police station on Parliament Street and the removal of furniture and demolition work at the IAS Building on the city’s Church Street.

Colonel Burch added: “There are several other small projects that will be assigned to the 101 team going forward as the need arises.”

He said the work on the former police station is expected to start next week.

Colonel Burch added the programme was designed to provide temporary income to help cut the need for support from financial assistance, and to give people a chance to “showcase their skill set, work ethic and update their resume”.

He said most of the work performed would be unskilled labour and included construction and waste removal to maximise opportunities.

• Anyone interested in participating should contact 236-0540 or 295-8623 or e-mail hustle@tbinet.bm