ERROL PARKER | Editor-at-large | Contact
Our town’s French Quarter Chamber of Commerce is buoyed this morning with news that a new international business college is set to open in Betoota later this year.
The Diamantina International School of Business Commerce will offer courses in business and commerce from the 1st of November and already has a full intake of 550 students for this semester. The college will be located in a demountable apartment or “donga” out the back of Campbell Scrap & Salvage in Betoota Ponds.
It’s understood by The Advocate that the 550 students will have to find their own accommodation in Betoota, which is currently experiencing a critical shortage of rental property stock. The vacancy rate for the Old City, French Quarter, Roma Hills, and parts of Betoota Heights is less than one percent at the moment, leaving some in the community wondering where these 550 new Betootans are going to live.
However, those concerns have been rejected by French Quarter Chamber of Commerce chairman, Mr. Ben Pellon, who said the many positives of having more young people in the local economy will vastly outweigh any negatives.
“Businesses around town are crying out for more staff, more workers,” said Mr. Pellon.
“These students will need to support themselves while they study, which is a great bonus for the community. Another bonus is that many of them are willing to work much more than their student visas allow them to, which is great for business, too. Hard workers are great, especially when they’re uninformed about local labor laws and can’t even speak English. You don’t need to speak English to wash a car or a bunch of dirty plates. So you can really pay them what you want because what are they going to do? Go to the police? Call their embassy? No,”
“They’re just going to keep working. Where are they going to live? I’m putting some in an investment property I own and charging them out the arse for rent and board. Fucking 15 of them [laughs]. It’s better than having it on Airbnb funnily enough,”
“I wish there were ten more colleges in town.”
More to come.
