The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

A trade expert yesterday backed local calls for the Construction Contractors Bill to be implemented in time for The Bahamas’ accession to full World Trade Organisation (WTO) membership.

Ramesh Chaitoo, a trade and development expert with Oxford Economics, said: “The sectors that have been around for quite some time and are well regulated, they are fine. The financial sector, insurance sector, tourism, professional services; they have regulatory regimes that protect consumers and the professionals.

“They have rules and regulations to govern industry and they are OK. There is law from 2018, with regards to construction, but it appears that it is not yet in place. The recommendation in the report is that if you open the construction sector, whichever segments of it you open, just make sure that this is implemented in time or subject the opening to that law being in place. That’s basically it.”

Mr Chaitoo, one of the authors behind the Chamber of Commerce-commissioned report that assesses WTO’s likely impact on the Bahamian economy, said: “The offer at the WTO is really for the more sophisticated, difficult type of construction.

“That is notwithstanding the fact that the regime of rules, and the regulatory regime for the sector, needs to be implemented soon, and I’m not sure why the law has not yet been assented to.”

The “regulation” Mr Chaitoo was referring to is almost certainly the Construction Contractors Act, which promises to yield significant benefits for the industry, consumers and the wider Bahamian economy if it functions as intended.

The Act when implemented, will introduce a system of licensing and self-regulation, where Bahamian contractors are certified according to their qualifications and scale/scope of work they are capable of undertaking.

This would place them on a “level playing field” with foreign contractors, enabling them to better compete for multi-million dollar contracts on foreign direct investment (FDI) projects that come to The Bahamas because their capabilities are certified. It will also give consumers greater protection.

Leonard Sands, the former Bahamian Contractors Association (BCA) president, had warned it was “critical to our survival” under WTO for the government to finally enact regulation of the $2bn industry. He suggested it was “beyond urgent” that the Act be enforced, as the absence of regulation left the industry totally exposed to being overwhelmed by foreign competition come 2020 if the government’s WTO accession target is met.

Current BCA president, Michael Pratt, told Tribune Business that the industry did have concerns over WTO’s implications for the sector and had expressed these in writing to the Oxford Economics consultants.