"These are skilled tradesmen looking to come here anyway, " says Mr. MacDonald, a piper.

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The island has become famous for its international fishing competitions and Bahamian guides, like Saunders, are skilled tradesmen.

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Maureen McMullan, Managing Director of Roll Formed, said the construction industry was under pressure for faster building combined with a shortage of skilled tradesmen.

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Manpower was the real problem, and in particular the difficulty of persuading engineers and skilled tradesmen to leave the United States to dig a ditch in a fetid tropical swamp.

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Skilled tradesmen like plumbers and electricians.

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In his view, a cluster of cultural prejudices have steered many potential tradesmen into college, and then toward stultifying office jobs, which provide less satisfaction and less security than skilled manual labor, and sometimes less money.

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