POLICE in Vail, Colorado in the United States were up until yesterday still trying to determine the cause of death of a 29-year-old Jamaican woman employed to Vail Resorts.

Alicia White was pronounced dead at the Vail Valley Medical Centre on Sunday night. She was taken there shortly after 11:00 pm, after Eagle County sherrif’s officials were notified of a medical emergency and reports that cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) was being administered in an attempt to save her life at the Two Elk Lodge ski resort.

On Thursday, Minister of Labour and Social Security, Pearnel Charles, said that he was both embarrassed by the matter and concerned about the welfare of Jamaicans who have been recruited to work in the United States without his ministry’s knowledge.

Such moves, he said, only serve to embarrass his ministry, which cannot assist the workers because of lack of information and details about their nationalities.

Charles said that he plans to take to Cabinet shortly a submission seeking permission to demand that all recruiting agencies operating in Jamaica be registered by his ministry, and that all Jamaican workers recruited and sent to the United States to work by these agencies be registered with the ministry’s liaison offices in North America.

He said that while he did not have a problem with Jamaicans being recruited for jobs in the United States, he was concerned that they are sent to work in the US without any protection.

“They are not registered with the Jamaican labour office in Washington, so if anything happens to them in America they are not in a position to get legal support, medical assistance or any form of help,” the minister said.

He said that unlike the private recruiters, his ministry has a liaison office staffed with persons who keep tabs on Jamaican workers recruited through the ministry and maintain a communication link with their families in Jamaica. He said that those who are not registered under this system create a problem because of the lack of information.

“I am proposing that all the agencies that are recruiting Jamaicans for overseas employment register with the Ministry of Labour, so that we can check to see that they are legitimate and also to ensure that there is no exploitation in their operations,” he said.

Charles addded that he wanted to ensure, at least, that when the private agencies recruit Jamaicans they register them with the liaison service.

Sources said that White was found at the top of the 11,220 feet Vail Mountain. She was unconscious and was not breathing. She was given CPR by a passing ski patrol who eventually took her to an ambulance.

Authorities in Vail said that the cause of death is under investigation until an autopsy is done. The sherrif’s office said that so far nothing suspicious about the death has been found. However, the county coroner said that White was healthy up to the time of her death and had no medical history.

The Denver area of Colorado experienced 7.8 inches of snow on Christmas day, following a snow storm which resulted in the most snowfall in Colorado in over 100 years.