Govt ten-year housing programme no fly-by-night one

DOZENS of the country’s leading large building contractors heard yesterday how Government intends to construct 100,000 housing units over the next ten years. The occasion was a breakfast meeting for contractors organised by the Ministry of Housing, at the Crowne Plaza in Port-of-Spain.

The information was provided by Minister of Housing, Dr Keith Rowley who told the enthusiastic audience they were expected to play a major part in the ambitious exercise. Noting that Trinidad and Tobago had some of the finest professionals, Dr Rowley said that very soon, his ministry would be in a position to select contractors for another phase of the housing project. “There are 11 sites ready to go and contractors will be asked for their offers which will be evaluated, following which awards will be made for those new sites. I know you have the ability to demonstrate the competence superior to your counterparts in the region and equal to your counterparts anywhere in the world,” said Rowley. He made it clear that the housing programme in Trinidad and Tobago was not a “fly-by-night one,” since it would go on for the next ten years at least.

Dr Rowley advised: “There is no need to try to make hurry money, there is no need to cut corners and there is no need to grab everything and run.” He told contractors that the Govern-ment will review their performance. “I went out last Wednesday and was very pleased with how the current programme is going and a lot of good work is being done out there. However, he explained that he saw something that was disappointing. According to Rowley, the professionals who are doing good work will get more work. He noted that one of the problems in Trinidad and Tobago was the acceptance at the national level of total mediocrity which will not be part of the housing programme. In a matter of weeks said Rowley, matters to do with financing arrangements will be made clear to the contracting fraternity. He told the contractors they had to get into modern management. The minister also stressed the importance of safety requirements.

Discussing professionalism, he told the contractors: “If you don’t have professional staff required to carry out the project in which you are engaged for the Ministry of Housing, make every effort to obtain such staff. We are talking about hundreds of millions of dollars in construction. “If you do not have professional staff, try to hire it, because if you come to us and you are operating in an unprofessional manner, we will have no difficulty in terminating contracts,” said Dr Rowley. The minister called on contractors to come up with ideas. “Be innovative, because it is innovation that will make us a developed country by 2020,” said Dr Rowley. “We count on this programme to drive the economy, to drive down the unemployment rate and to improve the skills base. Contractors were also asked to use material from the national training programme and employ as many trainees as possible. Several questions were posed by members of the floor to which pertinent answers were given. Dr Rowley is expected to meet with chosen representatives of the various building contractors’ industry in another three weeks’ time to refine all the thoughts expressed at yesterday’s meeting. Today, the minister will meet with small contractors in a similar forum at the La Joya Complex, St Joseph at 6.30 pm.