The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

The Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation (BCCEC) and the Bahamian Contractors Association (BCA) yesterday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to formalise their relationship and expand collaboration and co-operation.

The Chamber’s chief executive, Edison Sumner, told Tribune Business: “We didn’t have a formalised relationship. The BCA was operating and they have had their different levels and changes in leadership, so we saw it as necessary, as we have done with other professional associations in the country, to sign them on to an MOU, which is meant to foster and expand the level of collaboration and cooperation between the Chamber and the BCA.”

Mr Sumner added: “They are embarking on this journey again to have draft legislation so that the industry is properly recognised, and also properly regulated, because up to now the contractors in the country have not been operating under any specific regulations.

“We are seeking to assist them in that process. The signing of the MoU was to really bring them under a formalised relationship with the Chamber.”

BCA president Godfrey Forbes, in a recent interview with Tribune Business,  noted that the long-awaited Contractors Bill appeared to be no closer to making to to Cabinet and being taken to Parliament, despite having now spanned three administrations.

The Bill, if passed, would introduce a system of licensing and self-regulation, where Bahamian contractors would be certified according to their qualifications and scale/scope of work they are capable of undertaking.

It also includes provisions giving Bahamian consumers means of redress against shoddy workmanship and other frequent complaints made about Bahamian contractors.