The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Bahamian Contractors Association’s (BCA) president yesterday said the industry is “absolutely not enthused at all” over signs that the Government may “go back to the drawing board” on legislation to regulate it.

Leonard Sands told Tribune Business the Davis administration simply needs to “lock it down” by resetting the “grandfathering in” period for all contractors under the Construction Contractors Act, plus appoint the Board to oversee the self-regulating legislation, rather than seemingly moving to reinvent the wheel.

Alfred Sears, minister of works and utilities, earlier this week said the registrar of contractors was consulting with industry stakeholders on the “grandfathering in” period, but the BCA president argued that this was unnecessary because two relatively simple steps remain to give the Act - which was passed in 2016 - full enforcement effect.

He told this newspaper that further dragging out the process does “a disservice to the community” as it leaves Bahamian consumers exposed to abuse and shoddy workmanship by rogue contractors, while the industry itself is unable to compete with foreign rivals for “hundreds of millions” in construction contracts because developers have no knowledge of their competencies in the absence of a licensing and registration system.

“To be very honest, we’re not enthused at all,” Mr Sands said over Mr Sears’ remarks that the Government is taking the necessary steps to bring the Act into effect. “This administration came to office in September 2021 and we’re now approaching the end of April 2023.

“Where the last administration left off was the appointment of the Construction Contractors Board and they had also allowed the period to be grandfathered in under the Act to expire simply because they had not appointed the Board to which all contractors must make applications to. It’s been gathering dust.

“There are no substantial changes to the legislation that are needed; only two things remain. It needs to be revised to change the date for the enforcement and the ‘grandfathering in’ period to be reset, and give it 24 months for everyone to make application under the Act, and the appointment of the Board.”

The initial “grandfathering” period expired two years after the Act was passed in 2016, which would have been 2018 when the former Minnis administration was in office. This period was designed to give all contractors wishing to practice sufficient time to apply to the Board to be registered and licensed according to their abilities and size of job they are capable of doing.

Without that period, only contractors with the necessary tertiary (college/university) qualifications and/or industry experience as stipulated by the Act’s Schedule Ten are eligible to be licensed. “In 18 months nothing has been done. Are we encouraged? We are absolutely not enthused by it,” Mr Sands said.

“We’ve met with the minister, worked with his team and had numerous but I will say this on the record: There seems to be a total misunderstanding from their [the Government’s] perspective of what needs to happen. It seems like they went back to the drawing board.

“They’re talking about widespread consultation all over again and restarting the process. There’s no need for it. Take the legislation, revise the date for the ‘grandfathering in’ period and take it to Parliament. We’re tried of talking. We’re in our 50th year of independence and been at this for 40 years,” he continued.

“When are we going to stop talking? When are we going to protect the industry? When do we make this profession a proud one? We’re bringing the players to the table. Lock it down. That’s my message. Anything short of that is foolishness. The previous minister [Desmond Bannister] spent five years doing nothing. I advise the present minister not to do the same. History reflects terribly on persons who do nothing.”

Mr Sands said the failure to enforce the legislation was depriving legitimate, bona fide Bahamian contractors with the necessary skills and ability of the chance to compete for contracts from the “hundreds of millions of dollars” in foreign direct investment (FDI) projects targeting this nation.

And he suggested that the present FDI pipeline represents “only a fraction of what wants to come here” if The Bahamas had a construction industry that was properly regulated. With livelihoods and businesses suffering as a result, the BCA chief argued: “It’s only a snippet of what wants to be invested here. They refuse to do it in an unregulated environment. I challenge anyone to tell me I’m lying.

“Let’s knock The Bahamas open and celebrate billions of dollars in investment rather than $1bn or $2bn. We’re in our 50th year of independence. Let’s build something. The third largest part of our economy has been held at a standstill for the last 50 years. Let’s break it open.”

Giving a personal example of why the construction industry is so desperate for proper regulation, Mr Sands told this newspaper: “I had a young man call me yesterday saying he was interested in getting a contractor’s licence. I paused. He said: ‘What do I do Mr Sands?’ I’d like to tell him what to do under the Act, but the Act is not enforceable because there’s no Construction Contractors Board for him to make a licence application to.

“I said to go to the Business Licence office, take a couple of references and make the necessary payment of a few hundred dollars. That’s all he needs to do. I don’t know if he knows the difference between a hammer and a nail and that’s the scary thing. Can you imagine your doctor having no licence or experience and being allowed to open you up?”

Mr Sands said this served to highlight the near-total absence of protection that Bahamian consumers enjoy from rogue contractors, fraud and shoddy workmanship. He added that the BCA was often being asked to provide expert witness testimony in court actions where consumers were suing contractors for deficient work, failing to perform at all or taking money far in excess of the value delivered.

Noting that the Association has also been working with the Consumer Protection Agency, he said: “We’re doing the job out there to help but there’s so much rampant abuse. That’s why the Act was created, but to leave it unfinished is a disservice to the community. They only need to fix the date and change The Bahamas for the better.”