Contractors Association: CEPEP labour for construction

Joseph said local contractors continue to suffer from labour shortages and several have lost workers to foreign contractors. “We are paying through our teeth to retain workers,” he stated. Reiterating that labour shortages in the construction sector should be filled locally before sourcing workers from Caricom and countries outside of Caricom, Joseph said the TTCA has long believed that persons employed in CEPEP could be used to fill some of those shortages.

He added that this was something which was suggested to the Government but never acted upon and maybe it should be considered at this time.

Last month, Works and Transport Minister Colm Imbert said Government has taken no decision to import Caricom labour for the local construction sector.

The Jamaican government has offered to provide TT with skilled construction workers. Imbert said Government believed that such a decision should be made at the level of Caricom.

Joseph said the TTCA disagreed with Prime Minister Patrick Manning’s view about introducing price controls for commodities in the construction sector but agreed with his view about opening up the market to competition in order to ensure availability of essential commodities at affordable prices.

The TTCA president said the group’s recommendations on this issue would be forwarded to Energy Minister Dr Lenny Saith and the group may ask for a meeting with Manning if the need arises.

Joseph said there was only an aggregate shortage in TT at this time and Government needed to open up this market for new players because National Quarries was experiencing difficulty in meeting the industry’s demands.

He suggested there be a removal of certain duties on importing aggregate, if contractors were to obtain relief from this measure.

Government’s initiative to open up the market to aggregate imports from Caricom took place last year during the tenure of former energy minister Eric Williams.