As a building boom is about to hit Barbados, some local contractors are concerned they could be sidelined, as developers are contracting the jobs and labour to Chinese construction firms and foreign contractors.
While admitting there was an acute shortage of artisans and labourers, the contractors expressed fears that once these foreign contractors moved in they could seek to plant roots here permanently, as they were bringing in “cheap labour”. The contractors, who requested anonymity, also said they were not required to pay National Insurance or Pay As You Earn (PAYE) taxes.
Dr William Duguid, Senior Minister Infrastructure and Planning in the Office of the Prime Minister, confirmed that some construction projects were coming on stream and he advised Barbadians to “get trained in construction gateway” while predicting that the boom could last a very long time.
“As you would appreciate, as we continue having this significant growth, a number of projects going, we will have to from time to time, give work permits to people to bring in workers to do additional work. I want to use this opportunity to continue to reach out to people to get on and get trained in construction gateway because this is going to be a fairly prolonged period of construction across the country,” he said. (MB)
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