Despite projections recently made by a leading consultancy that construction costs could spike due to the rise of Baha Mar, the president of the Bahamian Contractors Association (BCA) believes prices will remain high - and that has nothing to do with the mega resort.
Stephen Wrinkle told Guardian Business the nature of the development means very little should change on the construction landscape.
"If you will recall, Atlantis started their major push when we had a housing boom going on back in 2005 and 2006. At that time, there was also a general construction boom. But now you have got the situation with Baha Mar where there is minimal construction going on outside of it," Wrinkle shared.
This is why he feels Baha Mar's construction is not going to play as significant of a role as Atlantis did to the cost of overall construction.
"They are bringing in a lot more of the labor and it's a specialty type of construction. Most of the materials will be brought in directly from China," he noted.
"I do anticipate that thousands of Bahamian workers will be hired. This is going to peak for a very short time and then you are going to see a fall off, that coupled with the fact there is presently very little construction going on.
"That's why I don't think it's going to have as much of a dramatic effect on the local economy as Atlantis did, in terms of putting a strain on the local construction industry."
According to the BCQS International Market Trend Report 2011, the Caribbean consultancy predicts a general decline in construction costs for the region due to a projected decline in commodity indexes and natural resources. It also claimed there would be a "natural balancing" that leads to a gradual decline in costs over the next few years. Winkle doubted the report's findings.
"The escalating cost of oil virtually affects every facet of our lives, including the freight rate, and the manufacturing and supply costs. Therefore, everything is being affected by it. Plus, it would be an extremely rare occasion when the cost of materials will go down for us here in The Bahamas."
Wrinkle said Bahamians could expect more ancillary businesses to pop up in the Cable Beach area that didn't exist before. Surrounding areas such as the airport, Harold Road and Oakes Field could see growth as a result of the $2.6 billion mega project.
"We are well suited to handle Baha Mar. There's ample labor available at the moment, despite many of them not having the proper training and certification," he explained.
These issues are being addressed, as several programs are being implemented to take contractors and tradesman to a higher skill level, should the need arise.
"I think in the very near future you are going to see the training initiative that Baha Mar has promised for the construction industry with regards to BCA training. We are finalizing the details and we will begin shortly with that," Wrinkle said.
"There is training for tradesman at BTVI. We are continuing our efforts to improve the caliber and quality of contractors and tradesman in the country."
Hopefully through the support of (foreign direct investments) like Baha Mar, we will be able to continue training our population in an effort to improve their status."
Though the world is in an economic crisis, Wrinkle admitted to Guardian Business The Bahamas is doing very well for its size and potential. He said the focus must now be on keeping the national and personal debts down and continuing to build on the slow, positive growth.
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