PM urges local contractors to ‘invest in yourselves’, become more globally competitive

Local contractors are being urged to make the necessary investment in their companies to effectively compete for large-scale government projects.

Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness made the suggestion while speaking at the National Housing Trust (NHT) groundbreaking ceremony for the Galina housing development in St Mary yesterday.

“Jamaica needs a contracting class that is thinking at enterprise scale, that will put the resources into their business to acquire the technical skills and competencies to integrate the technology and to develop the balance sheet to support the kinds of capital works that the Government of Jamaica will be bringing to market,” Holness said.

He stated that the local construction industry plays a critical role in creating a dent in Jamaica’s housing deficit of 150,000 houses.

Stating that producing 150,000 housing solutions at pace and at scale is not an easy task, Holness also lamented that the Government’s capital expenditure budget often remains underspent.

“Why? Because the projects that we approve to be executed are not completed,” he said. “Some of it has to do with the incredibly dense bureaucracy that exists in Jamaica.”

But he said the Government will be increasing the capital budget to bring more projects on stream and urged local contractors to ‘be ready’.”

“We need you to make the investments in yourselves, in your communities. We need to see you use the technology, the same old building systems that take 24 months to deliver a house that we have seen and proven can be delivered within 12. We need our contractors to be innovators, and we need them to make the financial commitments in their balance sheets to be able to take on enterprise-level contracts,” he said.

NHT GALINA SCHEME

The NHT Galina scheme will consist of 360 solutions made up of one-bedroom, and two-bedroom serviced lots, and will start at a price of $3.8 million per lot. The construction is being done by Chinese company Henan Fifth Construction Group Company Limited.

Holness stressed that Jamaica operates in a global economy, and although preferential arrangements are made for local contractors, “ultimately everything that we do must be competitive, and not just competitive locally, but competitive regionally and globally”.

Local contractors in Jamaica have often complained that Chinese firms possess unfair advantages, including tax waivers, import duty concessions, and easier access to financing, allowing them to underbid local firms.

The prime minister noted that this was not an “extractive engagement” as these companies are also required to contribute to the local economy, and are sometimes held to a higher standard.

“We will hold them to the same standards, if not higher, for the production of houses at pace, at scale, and at the level of affordability for the average Jamaican. But as they participate in the Jamaican economy, they must contribute to the development of Jamaica. Skills transfer, technology transfer must be done. The use of Jamaican technical expertise must be done. And your corporate social responsibility to Jamaica and Jamaicans must be exercised,” he said.

In the meantime, Holness said the NHT has embarked on a drive to construct 41,000 homes in the first phase of its plan to deliver 150,000 units.

Inclusive of the Galina development, he said the NHT now has 11,060 houses under construction, 6,000 housing solutions at the contracting phase, and 11,500 in procurement.

sashana.small@gleanerjm.com