By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Bahamian Contractors Association’s (BCA) president yesterday slammed the “ludicrous” absence of consultation on the Buildings Regulation Act amendments, saying he was only informed about the changes on the day they were brought to Parliament.

Leonard Sands told Tribune Business that he first heard about the Christie administration’s plans on Wednesday morning, via a call from the secretary to Shane Gibson, minister of labour and national insurance.

Mr Sands said he was informed that the Minister was about to give a presentation on the amendments, intended to stiffen the penalties for those found guilty of shoddy and unsafe construction, to the House of Assembly that morning.

The BCA president responded by asking to see the Bill containing changes, and what the Government intended, resulting in the Minister’s secretary trying to explain the details over the phone.

Mr Sands then asked whether she was able to e-mail him an electronic version of the Bill, but the secretary said she was unable to do so, and that he would have to pick up a physical copy from the House of Assembly.

Emphasising that, as a contractor and businessman, he had numerous other pressing matters to attend to, Mr Sands told Tribune Business he was simply unable to race to the House and obtain a copy.

“I have not seen it at all,” he said of the Buildings Regulation Act amendments.

Mr Sands questioned why the BCA, as the largest trade association representing the construction industry, appeared to have been totally ignored - neither informed nor consulted - on legislative reforms that were fundamental to the sector’s interests.

“I think it’s ludicrous,” he told Tribune Business. “This impacts an industry where thousands are engaged directly, and where tens of thousands are indirectly engaged, and you’re telling me we weren’t in the least consulted in any way?

“We didn’t have to sit in a meeting; just send us a draft. We are the number one association related to construction, and we were not given an opportunity to comment.”

The Buildings Regulation Amendment Bill 2016, which amends section 19 in the existing Act, increases the financial penalty for infractions from $500 to $10,000.

And, in penal terms, the maximum term of imprisonment is being raised from six months to two years.

The Government is hoping the threat of increased punishment, in both financial and incarceration terms, will act as a deterrent, helping to either drive out incompetent contractors or force them to clean up their work.

Mr Sands, though, questioned whether the reforms would have the desired effect.

He argued that it was enforcement, and the risk of being charged, rather than the penalties themselves, which would have the greatest impact. And enforcement was frequently an area where the Bahamas fell down.

“It’s going to be hard to say whether it’s effective or not,” Mr Sands told Tribune Business of the changes, “as we have penalties for a lot of things, and no enforcement. I don’t know if the threat of penalties matters.”

Citing numerous examples of alleged law-breaking that have gone unpunished, he added: “To me, I don’t know if it’s going to achieve the intent they want.

“Enforcement does that. Penalties, on the face of it, don’t do that.”

Mr Sands, who has also been named as the FNM’s candidate for Bain and Grant’s Town in the upcoming general election, added that the construction industry was on “pins and needles” over the long-promised Contractors Bill.

Deputy Prime Minister, Philip Davis, announced on Wednesday that he planned to table the Bill in the House of Assembly “in short order”, a plan he has already communicated to the BCA.

Mr Sands, though, said it was vital that the rest of the Christie Cabinet were in accord with Mr Davis on the Bill’s importance - something is key to ensuring it gets on the Government’s agenda and makes it to Parliament.

“The whole industry is on pins and needles, hoping that at least it’s tabled,” he told Tribune Business. “He’s [the Deputy Prime Minister] told us on numerous occasions that he wants the Bill brought to the House and read before they demit office.

“That’s his intent, and I believe him. The document is ready, ready to be laid on the House floor for debate. It’s 100 per cent ready; as ready as it can be for debate. If the Government’s present agenda allows it, hopefully we will see it before summer.”

Efforts to pass the Contractors Bill have now spanned three administrations, two of PLP vintage and one FNM.

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.

And it will also help to ‘level the playing field’ between Bahamian and foreign contractors, allowing the former to better compete for - and gain a greater share of - the work stemming from multi-million dollar foreign direct investment (FDI) projects.

“It would be a good thing for them politically [to pass it],” Mr Sands added, “as it touches and concerns thousands of people.

“The aggression in the Bill for infractions and people who violate it, as written, it’s a linchpin for our industry.

“It will be the beginning of raising construction in our country to a level we’ve never seen it at. It will take it from a ‘fishing village’ attitude to the global marketplace, where it can compete with this foreign contractors.”

Arguing that it would “level the playing field” for Bahamian contractors, Mr Sands said: “It will literally transform our industry overnight.

“It would mean a direct injection into the industry and the economy, and contractors can double what they take now [from FDI]. We’ll see a boost from it immediately.”

The BCA president said the Bill would tighten the enforcement and control surrounding foreign contractors who came to the Bahamas.

“It creates a little bit of a process, and they cannot just jump in here from away and be a contractor tomorrow,” Mr Sands told Tribune Business.

“They will have to get National Economic Council (NEC) approval. It creates some hurdles to jump over, and will drive developers to deal with Bahamian contractors.

“We’ll definitely see an increase in business, and that’s what we need.”