The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The pending Contractors Bill will become “the next hot topic” in the Bahamas once the gaming referendum is over, a leading industry executive said yesterday, pledging to get the legislation to Parliament by April.

Godfrey Forbes, the Bahamian Contractors Association’s (BCA) president, told Tribune Business that the Bill was his “number one priority”, given that regulation of the industry was vital to consumer protection and Bahamian firms “maximising” opportunities to work on multi-million dollar projects.

Disclosing that the BCA had decided “not to really try and push the Bill” before the January 28 gaming referendum, as this appeared to be consuming most of the Christie administration’s attention, Mr Forbes said meetings to deal with the final outstanding issues were being arranged.

The “main hold up”, he told Tribune Business, was the need to bring electrical contractors - who are currently regulated under the Electricity Act - under the ambit of the Contractors Bill.

Confirming that he had met with the head of the Electrical Contractors Association, who was “looking into something for me”, Mr Forbes said he also aimed to meet with the Bahamas Electricity Corporation’s (BEC) general manager, Kevin Basden. BEC currently has the responsibility for regulating and licensing electrical contractors.

And Mr Forbes said he had also written a letter to Allyson Maynard-Gibson, the attorney general, seeking her help in “making a couple of minor amendments” to the draft Bill.

“I have it as priority number one for us now, and it’s what we’re going to be focusing on,” the BCA president told Tribune Business of the Bill.

Suggesting that roundtables and town hall meetings were planned on the legislation once the gaming referendum was over, Mr Forbes added: “That’ll be the next hot topic around the country, the Contractors Bill.

“I’m very optimistic that we will get Parliament to at least hear it in the first half of the year. We want to get it to Parliament in the first quarter. I don’t want to wait until June, as I demit office then. I want to have this in Parliament before April.”

Given that an uptick in construction projects was expected in 2013, with a further increase in 2014, Mr Forbes said it was vital for Bahamian contractors to be licensed, certified and regulated if they were to pick up their due share of work on major foreign direct investment (FDI) projects.

Passing the Bill, the BCA president added, would enable Bahamian contractors to “maximise opportunities presented”, such as joint ventures with foreign companies.

And, with a Consumer Code built into the Bill, Mr Forbes added: “I know for a fact the consumer will get greater protection. The amount of cries we’ve been getting from many consumers over the years should diminish and reduce greatly.

“Contractors will have to comply with the rules regarding licensing, and if they’re not in compliance with the rules and regulations, they will find themselves unable to practice.”

Mr Forbes said Bahamian consumers would get “better protection” for the monies they invested in construction projects, with contractors required to explain all unforeseen issues to them.

“Once it happens, it’ll be a plus for the country and the industry as a whole,” Mr Forbes said.