Bahamian contractors will continue to lose millions in revenue, if the necessary laws are not put in place to protect the local construction industry, according to Leonard Sands, vice president of the Bahamian Contractors’ Association (BCA). “I would say anywhere from $150 to $250 million of work has been going on annually in the country that we as local contractors have not been participating in,” estimated Sands during the BCA’s first general meeting, held on Tuesday evening at The College of The Bahamas’ Harry C. Moore Library. “There are probably 25-30 homes that are being built between Lyford Cay and Old Fort Bay that are valued anywhere between $1.5 to $5 million each, and as far as I know, no one from our membership is doing any of those projects,” he added. He admitted that participation by local contractors in major projects has been very low. According to him, a large number of these projects are being awarded to Jamaicans, Canadians, and Filipinos. The BCA executive maintains that no government administration has recognized the importance of ensuring that policies are in place to protect and regulate the local construction industry. “These are just some of the challenges that are presently facing the construction industry… legally there is nothing we can do about it,” he explained. Excerpt taken from The Nassau Guardian, March 29,2012…
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