Government plans to separate out the Work Permits Section as part of a reorganisation of the Department of Immigration, Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Patrice Minors said yesterday.At a press briefing to elaborate on Throne Speech initiatives, Minister Minors said that a system was already in place between Labour and Training and the Work Permit Section to verify the availability of suitably qualified Bermudians prior to making decisions with respect to granting work permits.“This system ensures that those Bermudians that are currently seeking employment are not disadvantaged,” she said.But the largely manual system will be improved in the coming months with automation, and the work permits unit itself will no longer be part of the Department of Immigration but will be either part of the Department of Labour and Training or a stand-alone unit under the Ministry.“I expect that a final decision will be made in this regard in the coming weeks” and the reorganisation will require some legislative amendments, the Minister said.The well publicised One Stop Career Center, a merger between the Department of Labour and Training, will coordinate with the Work Permits Section.Minister Minors also informed the press that a new programme called the Small Jobs Initiative was in danger of ending early because of the lack of small jobs.The scheme generates short term employment for unemployed locals registered with Labour and Training.“This programme has provided a weekly salary of $600 per week for up to 20 persons for an eight to ten week period or until the allocated funding has been exhausted,” the Minister said.“The programme is now in its fifth week and is in jeopardy of ending early owing to the lack of small works. More work must be secured to keep the programme going.”The programme is funded by the Ministry of Finance and administered by the Bermuda Small Business Development Corporation.The persons are employed by an independent contractor who has graduated from the BSBDC’s Construction Incubator programme.