The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

A BAHAMIAN striping company yesterday questioned why a foreign rival had been contracted for major striping projects on New Providence, its president telling Tribune Business his company possessed the skills, tools and manpower to do the work.

Atario Mitchell, president of Bahamas Striping, a grant-winning company from the Self-Starter Programme, told Tribune Business yesterday: "The bottom line is the work that they are doing now, my staff can do."

He questioned why Road Grip, a foreign striping firm, had been contracted for major projects such as the New Providence Road Improvement Project (NPRIP) and the Airport Gateway project.

Mr Mitchell said: "I know that they had one foreigner down here doing work, but when I saw them today, I saw two. They have the Sports Centre road project, along with the road project and the Chinese gateway project, and that isn't right.

"If they were doing something complex we could understand. This company has been working here for the last 10 years. We were told that Bahamas Hot Mix was going to do it in-house, but we saw foreigners doing it. Right now the only project we have is the parking bays at the Sports Centre. If you passed by the Sports Centre today you would see eight young Bahamians working."

Mr Mitchell questioned why his firm was not contracted for the road project, giving young Bahamians the opportunity to work. "Why can't we work on this project? We have the machines, the skills and the manpower. The foreigner we have is here to train Bahamians; these guys come here, work and leave. This is something the Government should look into. We are losing out on millions of dollars," Mr Mitchell added.

"These projects give our guys more opportunity to train, work and pay their bills. These jobs are enough for the rest of the year. We don't know if we are going to work next week. The Chinese gateway is a whole year project, the stadium is another week or two's worth of work Bahamians could do. There is no reason we can't have a crew at the sports centre and a crew on the road project."