Robert Myers, president of the Bahamian Contractors Association, expressed the need for more participation between the government, developers and the members of the association. He said his association would like to see some of the development money being spent by foreign investors such as Kerzner International and Four Seasons Resort go to Bahamian contractors. "We are trying to push for some of this development money to go to qualified accountable Bahamian contractors wherever possible."
Mr. Myers stated that the industry has seen its share of problems in the area of unscrupulous contractors but he maintained that there are still ethical Bahamian contractors in the industry.
According to Mr. Myers, over the last three years, the construction industry has experienced a steep decline. "The industry has suffered heavily over the last three years. It needs support…and it needs regulation." He said although recently things have begun to pick up, employment was still down.
The latest Quarterly Economic Review issued by the Central Bank showed a reduction in the valuation on both residential and commercial building permits granted last year, indicating that construction output softened for the opening months of 2003.
Data on mortgage lending from banks, insurance companies and The Bahamas Mortgage Corporation indicated a general slowing in financing for domestic building activity for the second quarter of 2003. Commitments for residential mortgages for new construction, rehabilitation and additions was $18.5 million a decrease of $2.9 million from last year's $21.4 million. Commercial mortgages saw a sharper decline with commitments of just $5.7 million compared to last year's $14.5 million.
Mr. Myers noted that recently while there have been some positive changes in residential construction, commercial construction remained flat. He hopes that the Atlantis Phase III development will serve as a catalyst to stimulate the economy.
"When people realize that someone is about to pump a billion dollars into the Bahamian economy, that gives a very definite confidence level to The Bahamas." He continued that this confidence could lead to more people deciding to go ahead with the decision to build a house or a new commercial building.
Addressing the issue of foreign development, Mr. Myers said local contractors were not always given a fair share of the foreign development pie. He noted that too often they were deemed to be too small to handle some of the larger foreign developments occurring in the country and thus overlooked.
He said although there were cases where the job was too big for a particular Bahamian contractor, this did not justify eliminating Bahamian contractors from the development process entirely.
According to Mr. Myers, even though Bahamian contractors may not be able to build the larger towers, they can still work on the smaller projects. He added that his association pitched this idea to Kerzner International as well as to the Ministry of Financial Services and Investment as a method for handling future developments.
He argued that if the government does not step in and require foreign developers to do due diligence within The Bahamas to find local contractors, they would continue to select developers from abroad. He noted that these foreign developers are naturally going to select firms they are comfortable with or have a relationship with. "Typically we have found that there is a willingness of the foreign developer to use what is known and is comfortable to them."
Mr. Myers was adamant that changes be made so future development projects in The Bahamas are not be handled the way they have been in the past.
By Martella Matthews, The Nassau Guardian
