While many view the impending resumption of work on the multi-brand Baha Mar mega-resort as a positive thing, contractor Leonard Sands - who has just joined the Free National Movement - has warned that the completion of that project and others that have kept the construction sector robust in 2014, will leave the sector facing "very hard times".
Sands is the managing director of Sandbank Construction Company Ltd. and vice president of public relations for the Bahamian Contractors' Association, and his prognosis was grim: The impending completion of Baha Mar and other major projects, plus the piled-on effects of value-added tax (VAT) mean the construction sector may be facing "very lean times", possibly its toughest period ever.
"Many at this moment are struggling to keep their businesses open. There are more contractors across the sector who have already capsized under the mounting pressures of bills and lack of work. We have not been trained to run profitable businesses, and yet we are now required to pay VAT and remain NIB compliant. Those considerations are challenges for any business but, in a sector that struggled before these business cost demands, we are at a very difficult place," Sands said.
He raised the issue of regulating the construction sector, juxtaposing construction with the gaming industry.
"I believe this issue deserves a conversation on a national level. The sector is unregulated, and that does not help the situation. The gaming industry has been given its protection under the law but why has the sector that employs more young people than any other industry allowed to linger in a state of chaos?
"The Bahamas Contractors' Association was once a strong voice crying out for the sector; where is the voice? We are at the precipice and the fierce urgency of now dictates that we do something."
CBOB
The Central Bank of The Bahamas noted in its Monthly Economic and Financial Developments July 2015 report that the pace of domestic economic growth continues to be relatively mild up to July, underpinned by the favorable tourism performance and on-going foreign investment-led construction activity.
The bank also noted that the domestic economy is expected to maintain its modest growth pace over the balance of 2015, as ongoing strengthening in the key source markets supports a positive tourism outcome, and several medium-scale foreign investment projects drive construction sector activity.
"However, the delayed opening of the Baha Mar resort, due to the unfolding financial and legal challenges, is poised to temper near-term growth and employment forecasts."
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