Too
much work, too few contractors
in Trinidad
By Sandra
Chouthi
The Trinidad Guardian
Port
Spain
Petroleumworld.com 02 05 06
Foreign
construction firms have been awarded more than $3 billion worth
of projects in T&T. That’s the total of nine international
firms that have been hired for works ranging from the waterfront
project to housing.
Responding
to criticism from the local construction industry over the number
of foreign firms the Government has hired to meet its heightened
development agenda, Works Minister Colm Imbert said the Government
had no choice.
He
said there are only about six large construction companies in
T&T—NH International (Caribbean) Ltd, Kee-Chanona
Ltd, Home Construction Ltd, Beaver Construction Ltd, Hafeez
Karamath Construction Ltd and Carillion (Caribbean) Ltd—which
can handle projects worth between $100 million and $300 million.
“They
have the capability. They can finance a job like that. They
have the manpower to do it. They have the technical resources.
They have the track record to do jobs in that realm,”
Imbert said.
“Just
look out the window,” he said, looking out of the sixth
floor of the Ministry of Works and Transport, corner Richmond
and London Streets, Port-of-Spain.
“Customs
building is NH. The Revenue building is Carillion. And then,
if you go around Port-of-Spain, you would see the Public Administration
building, Kee-Chanona is doing that.”
Imbert’s
point: local construction firms are maxed out.
“They’re
full of work. Everyone of them.”
The
big picture was apparent about three years ago.
“We’d
put a project out to tender. You’d expect to get six and
seven bids. We started to get two. And when you go in to it,
you find only one is qualified.”
Regarding
the tender to repave the Piarco airport runway, Imbert said
nine contractors collected the tender documents.
One
submitted a tender on time.
One
was late.
The
former got the job.
“They
collected the tender documents, looked at the job and declined
to bid. The only conclusion you can draw is that they have enough
work. It is obvious you would conclude they have too much work,
far too much work.”
Regarding
infrastructure companies, of which there are less than a handful,
Imbert said: “Of the infrastructure contractors, the large
contractors would be Coosal’s Construction Company Ltd,
Seereeram Brothers Ltd, Junior Sammy Contractors Ltd, and there
are others who are of the view they are in that league.”
He
said local contractors are hiring foreigners, citing the examples
of NH which hires English engineers, as does Carillion which
has also has a British link.
Carillion
was previously known as Wimpey and later Tarmac.
He
said some local firms were sourcing technical expertise from
the Caribbean. He spoke of one firm which was hiring Jamaican
engineers.
“When
you look at these foreign firms, these firms are so large, they
may have 2,000 engineers working for them. It’s as big
as that. A firm with 2,000 technocrats in it, it may be architects
as well, can easily assign 10 or 20 of those people to a job
in Trinidad.”
‘Govt
had to go foreign’
A
crane belonging to local construction firm NH International
at work in Port-of-Spain.
He
said the Government had little choice but to go foreign once
it realised local companies were overstretched.
“They
were saying this to the Government over the last two years:
schedule it so that rather than trying to do everything over
the next five to ten years, stretch it out, and that will allow
us then to do all the jobs.
“So,
we said to them, we have priorities. The country has priorities.
We can’t tell the country we were waiting on you, for
you to mobilise and equip yourself and get yourself bigger.
We have our work to do.”
To
the comment that most of the Government’s projects have
a similar timeline—general election in October 2007—Imbert
laughingly said, “No, no, the rail system is going to
finish for the next elections, not for this one. There will
be no train running in 2007. A train may be running in 2010,
2012.”
Imbert
said it’s unlikely the foreign firms will be taking jobs
away from locals.
“Local
contractors have hundreds of millions in projects which is really
far more than they’ve had in the past,” Imbert said.
“It is one of the most lucrative periods of this country’s
history for construction companies. There’s so much work
around, they can afford to pick and choose and they do that.”
Imbert
said local construction companies, which did jobs at cost when
the oil boom crashed in the 1980s, are now pricing jobs higher.
“Now,
there’s no contractor that I know of who is doing contracts
at a loss, deliberately, or breaking even just to keep things
going. There’s enough work for them to make good profit.”
Imbert,
who’s a member of the Cabinet appointed subcommittee on
the construction sector, said the committee was able to sort
out Udecott’s cash flow problems with contractors.
The
committee, responding to industry complaints of too few engineers
and masons and carpenters and quantity surveyors, will be arranging
for the University of T&T to begin training more quantity
surveyors in 2006.
Quantity
surveyors verify the value of work done on a project and handle
the legal aspects of contracts.
The
committee will also consult with foreign universities to train
blasting technicians in the use of explosives.
To
address the problem of a shortage of aggregate—sand and
gravel—in the construction sector, the Ministry of Energy
expects to lease 800 acres of land in 2006 to quarry operators
to address that shortage, Imbert said.
‘We
need to look to region’
Brian
Lewis
Architect
Brian Lewis wants to see more Caribbean construction companies
doing work in Trinidad.
“I
would have thought as Caribbean people, we would have looked
to our Caribbean brothers,” Lewis said. “Having
a lot of foreign people in here is just stressing the whole
economy.”
He
identified more cars on the roads, more phone use and a greater
demand for housing, school places and the like.
While
admitting that the large local construction firms are busy with
projects, Lewis said that’s not a justifiable argument
for bringing in professionals from outside the region.
“We
should be looking in the region first before bringing contractors
from all over the world.
“One
is concerned about overstressing the industry. It’s not
just a question of contractors but where are we getting the
labour, materials, and so on to fulfil the Government’s
programme and how far one should go in order to achieve it?
Would you bring in not only foreign contractors, but also for
labour, cement?”
Lewis,
who’s a member of the Joint Consultative Council (JCC)
and a director at ACLA-Works, said he thinks it would be better
if the Government collaborated and consulted more with the construction
industry.
He
questioned if there were any boundaries to the Government’s
development agenda, if limitations should be set on bringing
in foreign professionals.
Lewis
said he was reliably informed that the International Waterfront
Project will require as many as 14 crane operators who have
to be trained. And the foreign firms are likely to pay local
crane operators more handsomely to attract them to their projects.
“The
principle is still there, whether it’s four or 14. Is
this ordered development? I think a more ordered development
would allow better planning. If it is that the pace has to be
sustained for political reasons, more emphasis has to be placed
on this committee’s work to reduce likely problems that’s
going to arise.”
Lewis
is also a member of the Cabinet appointed subcommittee on the
construction industry. The committee’s task is to sort
out bottlenecks in the Government’s construction programme.
He
said while the steering committee has made a contribution to
solve problems in the construction industry, it should do more
to facilitate more ordered integration.
“To
do that means government officials directing meeting that should
be more receptive to practical proposals to them.
“Sometimes
they don’t want to listen. They are adamant about pressing
ahead at a pace. At that speed, it’s difficult to resolve
all the problems.”
He
said he stands by the statement that development isn’t
such if it’s going to lead to the demise of local contractors
and consultants.
TTCA:
Steady growth necessary
Mikey
Joseph
The
local contracting industry did not ask the Government to slow
down its development programme so local companies can benefit
from building jobs, but rather to generate steady growth of
the industry.
Making
that statement is Mikey Joseph, president of the Contractors’
Association.
“I
think Mr Imbert may have misunderstood our request. We never
requested a slowing down of the projects that the Government
wishes to bring at this time because we’d like to have
all or be the beneficiaries of it.”
He
said the industry’s point was that development should
be done so that local contractors, consultants, architects and
the like will be fully utilised, and that young professionals
are given experience.
“Instead
of having four or five years of extreme activity where there
is limited resources, it would allow for a steady income, steady
growth of the country, notwithstanding, there’d still
be the need for foreign contractors, and when bringing them
on board, the tendering, that the procurement processes should
transparent and equitable for all.”
On
the subject of road works, he said he doesn’t expect better
quality of work or faster turnover if the Government hires foreign
contractors over that of local companies.
He
said if a client accepts a job, it means he or she is satisfied
with the standard of work delivered.
“Putting
the onus on the contractor is not fair. You have to put the
onus on the team,” he said referring to others involved
in a project including the client and quantity surveyor.
“The
standards and quality of work coming out of our contractors,
especially on our road network, is deplorable.
“The
contractors need to look at their quality assurance and quality
control department so they can work to provide better quality
jobs that would perform.”
Following
is a list of foreign construction companies working on projects:
1.
Johnston International Ltd
Origin:
Turks and Caicos
Contract:
Design and build Chancery Lane Complex, San Fernando
Contract
period: June 2005 to July 2007
Value:
$296 million
2.
Bouygues Batiment
International
(through Bouygues Batiment T&T Construction Company-HCL
(joint venture)
Origin:
France
Contract:
Design and build, International Waterfront Development, Port-of-Spain
Contract
period:
July
2005 to January 2009
Value:
$1,663,579,300
3.
Sunway Construction Caribbean (Suncon)
Origin:
Malaysia
Contract:
Ministry of Legal Affairs, Government Campus, Richmond Street,
Port-of-Spain
Contract
period: May 23, 2005 to August 22, 2007
Value:
$368,902,830
4.
Johnston
International
Ltd
Origin:
Turks and Caicos
Contract:
Multistorey carpark and retail, Richmond Street, Port-of-Spain
Contract
period: June 7, 2004 to January 22, 2006
Value:
$172,817,226
5.
Helmutt Obata
&
Kassabaum (HOK)
Origin:
USA
Contract:
Design services, T&T Brian Lara Academy, Tarouba
Contract
period: not yet determined
Value:
$3.2 million
6.
Shanghai
Construction
Group
Origin:
Shanghai, China
Contract:
Social Development Towers, St Vincent Street, Port-of-Spain
Contract
period: 30 months commencing February 1, 2006
Value:
$367,848,267.64
7.
China Jiangsu
Contract:
34 housing units, El Dorado Road, Tunapuna
Contract
period: March 1, 2004 to March 2006
Value:
$6.6 million
8.
China Jiangsu
Contract:
20 housing units, Green Street, Tunapuna
Contract
period: 2004-February 2005
Value:
$4.8 million
9.
China Jiangsu
Contract:
296 apartments, Lady Young Road, Morvant
Contract
period: November 2004-March 2007
Value:
$66 million
