The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A former Bahamian Contractors Association (BCA) president says today's first construction industry payroll for seven to eight weeks will prove "a huge stress buster for lower and middle income families".

Stephen Wrinkle told Tribune Business "there'll be cash in the economy" circulating widely among 'Mom and Pop' stores, and other businesses able to open, as many of the construction industry's 19,500 employees receive their first post-COVID-19 pay cheque following the sector reopening this week.

"We've gone back," Mr Wrinkle confirmed, revealing that he is racing to complete a multi-million dollar western New Providence commercial warehouse, storage and business park facility close to Mount Pleasant's entrance. "It's taken a few days to get all the workers remobilised. We advanced all our crews money Friday last week because we weren't sure when we were going back to business."

Disclosing that the project is a joint venture between himself and New Providence Development Company, which is designed to meet the area's growth, he predicted that the overall construction industry will make "a huge impact" on an economy desperate for a capital injection and consumer demand amid the ongoing COVID-19 restrictions.

"Their back to work with groceries in the home," Mr Wrinkle said yesterday of construction workers. "A little of the pressure is off. A lot of the boys were stretched to the limit. It's taken a few days to remobilise the site and get back into the groove.

"Everyone's very grateful to be back on the job site, and everyone has got renewed energy and vigour. We've done payroll today, and there'll be cash in the economy tomorrow. It's that quick. It will be a huge impact. That's a huge stress buster for lower and middle income families, and is going to make a huge difference.

"There's going to be millions of dollars flowing out tomorrow between the different contractors. As soon as the other businesses start to open, the workers and their families will have ready cash to spend. They won't have to wait for the Government pay day again. You have cash in the economy already, and they're ready to spend right away. It's a big impetus."

Leonard Sands, another former BCA president, echoed Mr Wrinkle's sentiments by predicting there will be an increase in bank and Automated Teller Machine (ATM) lines as construction workers seek to cash cheques and make deposits.

"That will be a very good sign for working class people in the construction sector after it has been closed for eight weeks," Mr Sands added. "That's a really big sigh of relief for thousands of workers. It's certainly been an interesting four days so far.

"The pay cheque is going to be really significant. Every dollar spent in construction will circulate among the community to at least 10 persons. That's a multiplier effect of 10 persons who are going to get access to the dollars construction workers spend."

Mr Sands continued: "What we thought would happen has happened. There's been more traffic on the road, and any number of contractors across New Providence and, I imagine, equally across The Bahamas happy to be back to work on significant projects.

"Hardware stores have been flooded, and curb side pick-up is working beautifully. They come to your vehicle, swipe the credit card or take your money, and put the materials on the back or deliver them to your site. The interaction with persons in those businesses is very limited if any."

Mr Wrinkle, meanwhile, said he was "looking to fully scale up" at his western New Providence project during this coming week ahead of a summer completion. "Hopefully the construction industry will see new work and help to rebuild the economy," he added.

"It's going to be a tough nut to crack. There's a couple of large projects going on, so we hope those will have a significant impact. The lumber and hardware companies are operating again, which is a big help to the industry, and the money that goes to those businesses will also start to trickle down. We've paid duty on materials at the dock, so that money goes to the Public Treasury.

"Construction affects so many facets of the economy. It spreads out a lot, not in large volumes, but it spreads far and wide and gets the cash flowing. It was a very wise move on the Prime Minister's part, and I'm sure it will show up for them in short order."

Mr Wrinkle said he was already enforcing a "no mask, no entry" policy at his construction site, with hand sanitisers and other necessary health measures in place. "It's a little strange working on a construction site wearing a mask," he added, "but it's a normal precaution now. Everybody's working pretty well and understands what it is."