Foreign companies push up labour costs

The presence of foreign construction companies is pushing up labour costs in the local construction industry, according to TT Contractors Association (TTCA) president, Mikey Joseph.

In an interview last week, Joseph said labour costs in the construction industry have increased 30 percent across the board and this is due to a tug-of-war between foreign and local contractors for skilled workers.

The TTCA president said every time a foreign contractor lands in TT, they double or triple their wages in order to hire more skilled employees to work on their construction sites. Joseph said some local contractors find it difficult to compete with the foreign contractors in terms of wages and in the current scenario, the only thing locals seem to respond readily to is money.

One contractor claimed that a company working on the Port-of-Spain Waterfront Project has been luring his workers away with higher wages.

That contractor said this scenario will cause labour costs to rise on construction sites and does nothing to address the lingering problem of a shortage of skilled construction workers in TT.

In an interview last week, Urban Development Corporation of TT (Udecott) chairman Calder Hart said the availability of suitable labour remains a valid concern in the local construction industry and Government is “addressing its impact and examining solutions to address this perceived problem.”

Hart insisted Udecott is doing its part to develop skilled labour in the local construction sector by starting training programmes geared at training and developing local labour. Drawing reference to the Port-of-Spain Waterfront Project, Hart said a company on that site has developed a training programme to train and develop TT nationals to operate cranes on construction sites.

Joseph argued that when the TTCA hears claims of workers being poached by foreign contractors, it makes Hart’s statements seem empty. “It is a distortion of the facts,” he argued. Asked whether foreign construction companies in TT were starving their local counterparts for business, Joseph said this was not the case because most of them have formed partnerships on their projects.

Joint Consultative Council of the construction industry, Winston Riley, agreed with Joseph’s assessment of the situation within the industry, describing it as “quite chaotic” with local contractors facing an uphill battle on all fronts.

Bankers Association president of TT, Larry Howai, speaking at a 2006 Housing Colloqium at the Crowne Plaza Hotel last week, suggested that Government considers offering higher stipends under the Multi-Sector Skills Training (MUST) and Helping You Prepare for Employment (HYPE) in order to source more persons for the construction sector. He also suggested reducing Value Added Tax (VAT) on certain construction materials.

Government, he added, may also need to strongly consider extending public funding for technical and vocational skills, especially key skills such as masonry, carpentry, plumbing and electrical works that are critical for the construction sector, if further problems are to be avoided.

While speculation continues about Government importing skilled construction workers from other Caricom countries, Works and Transport Minister Colm Imbert has said no decision has been taken on this, noting Government has not accepted a proposal from the Jamaican government to provide this country with qualified construction workers..

However, there has been evidence of a heavy influx of Asian construction workers into the country. Joseph said from what he knew, there are primarily Chinese and Malaysian workers in the country.

In February, the Shanghai Construction Group landed million dollar contracts to build a Social Development Tower in Port-of-Spain and Academies for the Performing Arts in Port-of-Spain and San Fernando.

The Chinese are also reportedly involved in Government’s accelerated housing construction programme, especially along the East-West Corridor. Some contractors claim that it may not be long before they are brought in to work on the $850 million Tarouba Sporting Complex. Joseph believes that the presence of the Chinese and other Asian construction workers in TT is not adding any value to the projects, because, he adds, there is no difference between their skills and those of their local counterparts.

He indicated that the presence of Chinese construction workers in TT is nothing new and these persons were used in large numbers in the school construction programme that was carried out under the former UNC government from 1999 to 2000.

Joseph said there were reports at that time of Chinese workers being housed in storage facilities on construction sites and living in very “dehumanising” conditions.