The Tribune

By MORGAN ADDERLEY

Tribune Staff Reporter

madderley@tribunemedia.net

BAHAMAS Contractors Association President Leonard Sands is adamant a Bahamian company could have built The Pointe development.

Speaking at a BCA meeting yesterday, Mr Sands discussed the controversial project, which is being developed by China Construction America.

The Heads of Agreement between CCA and the government states 70 percent of the workers are supposed to be Bahamian and 30 percent should be foreign.

Despite this clause, a monitoring exercise of the site by Tribune photographers in early April revealed that with the exception of three or four Bahamians and a guard at the gates of the development, everyone else appeared to be Chinese.

A government investigation into the matter has been launched since The Tribune’s revelations.

Labour Minister Dion Foulkes and other officials were scheduled to meet with representatives from The Pointe yesterday to discuss the investigation, but when contacted yesterday, Mr Foulkes would not say what occurred. However, he said a statement would be issued later.

Mr Sands has been a vocal critic of the make-up of the project’s workforce.

In a speech yesterday at The Poop Deck West, he said: “I’m the president of the (BCA) and I could say without a doubt that I know a Bahamian construction firm can take The Pointe development from out of the ground to 15 stories with not a problem.”

To bolster his point, he added the contractor and his firm were “in the room”.

“So, I stand in a room full of people who have the expertise, the skill, and the experience…to do the work.”

Referring to the government, Mr Sands added: “I need our leaders to come and sit and talk with us sometime and understand ‘who do we know’ that’s in our membership.

“Who has a wholly Bahamian workforce, that has done tens of millions of dollars of high rise construction, not only inside The Bahamas but outside (as well).”

Mr Sands also pleaded for more transparency in the matter.

“We’re just saying one simple thing: give us more information about it. There have been communications coming from that development that ‘they’re not ready for Bahamians yet.’ Why? That’s the first question we have. Why were you not ready?

“What part of the work do you think we can do, and when? And thirdly… How did you get to a place that you can say that in The Bahamas? That’s a really serious thing for the (BCA).”

In mid-April, The Tribune reported that developers told the government that a full complement of Bahamian workers were not needed at the time, but would be called upon once this portion of construction is finished.

This referenced the laying of an apparently intricate steel foundation for the next phase of the $200m development.

The Tribune was also told CCA informed labour officials that 100 Chinese nationals remained in the country to complete this task.

“So, we’re not…knocking them,” Mr Sands said. “We’re just saying, these are prevailing points that we need to just understand the answers to those questions. How did we get to that place in The Bahamas, at this day and time?”

Speaking to The Tribune after the event, Mr Sands described the situation as a “lament”.

“That building is the typical type of construction that we’re very good at,” he said.

“So, if they needed to find the kinds of people that could work on a project, they really could reach out to us.

“And the government has to ensure that they communicate with the BCA, because we have a work force and a contractor base that would like to really be a part of the project in a meaningful way. And maybe that’s (going to) happen in the future.

“But for right now, at this present day, we don’t see that engagement and we’re concerned about that.”