The Tribune

By FAY SIMMONS

Tribune Business Reporter

jsimmons@tribunemedia.net

THE Bahamian Contractors Association’s (BCA) president yesterday said the Government’s plan to digitise building approvals could eliminate years of frustration caused by applications being routed through Nassau.

Leonard Sands warned, though, that the Government must deliver on promised approval timelines while asserting that the plan to process applications online has the potential to significantly improve permit issuance - especially for Family Island projects that have traditionally been delayed by the need to send submissions to New Providence.

Speaking to Tribune Business, Mr Sands said architects, contractors, engineers and developers have long argued that requiring Family Island applications to be processed through Nassau has slowed development and created unnecessary delays. "I can see this being a huge improvement to the timeline," he said.

"One of the challenges architects, contractors, engineers and developers have always maintained is that things on the Family Islands are slowed because everything has to be be processed through Nassau.

"If they're going to digitise the process and make it easier for people to submit and track applications through a centralised online system, instead of everything going through Nassau, I think that's a fantastic idea."

Clay Sweeting, minister of works and Family Island affairs, announced the initiative during Parliament this week, noting the online platform will replace the ministry's paper-based approval system and allow applicants to submit plans electronically, track their progress in real time and receive decisions within a published timeframe.

While welcoming the initiative, Mr Sands said the construction industry will be watching closely to see whether the ministry can consistently meet those timelines."The question is, what timeline are they going to publish? Are they going to be able to stick to it?" he said. "We need more information on how they're going to maintain a guaranteed timeline for processing applications.

"It's one thing to say an application should take two weeks to review. What happens if it doesn't? What if it takes eight weeks? What does that mean? You can say that, but the application of the process is a whole different situation."

Still, Mr Sands said the digitisation of the approval system is long overdue and should benefit contractors, developers and homeowners across the country.

"I don't want to get hung up on that point because we're long overdue for a centralised, digitised application process. Hopefully this happens very quickly so all of us can reap the benefits."

Mr Sands said the current system has plagued the construction industry throughout the country's post-independence history.

"We have been suffering for the last 53 years of our nation, waiting for things to happen. Send the file to Nassau, the file gets lost, nobody can find it," Mr Sands said.

"I've been a part of that process when I worked in architecture for  years. It's just chaos."