By Fay Simmons

jsimmons@tribunemedia.net

A Cabinet minister yesterday lamented the failure to fully implement legislation to regulate the Bahamian construction industry as he called for an end to ‘fronting’ arrangements that enable foreign ownership in a sector reserved for locals.

Keith Bell, minister of labour and Immigration, told a Bahamian Contractors Association (BCA) meeting that with the Construction Contractors Act yet to take effect - and the Board responsible for self-regulating the industry still not set up - there was no private sector body the Government can turn to for advice on whether work permit applications should be approved.

He suggested that the four construction industry groups form a body that Immigration officials can consult prior to issuing labour certificates and work permits. “It goes back to the legislation, introducing the legislation,” Mr Bell said. “In a similar way, before we could bring in somebody in the medical field into the country, before I could grant a work permit we consult with the Medical Association.

“Before we bring someone in in the accounting field, we consult with the accountants to bring them in. And, in much the same way, before we deal with construction we need someone for all of these specialised areas. We need a body that we are able to go to.”

“So I think until we get the legislation to formalise this, and then we can say this is the entity which will be responsible for collaborating with the Ministry of Labour and the Department of Immigration, we are still at this point. If all of the contractor associations are able to work together and form an executive arm of the associations, we can collaborate with those persons before we issue permits or certificates. I’m prepared to work with that.”

Mr Bell said that, when formed, the Construction Contractors Board would be included in negotiations with multi-million dollar foreign direct investment (FDI) projects to ensure local contractors benefit significantly from them. “I sit on the NEC. That is the National Economic Council, and that is the Council which approves all of these developments that you see going on,” he added.

“And each time we sit on that committee, we have to look at the Heads of Agreement. And, more and more, we are questioning what role can specific industries play as we continue to develop these major projects? So, for instance, on the Family Islands there are several major, multi-billion dollar projects that are going on.

“And when we look at what it is they are asking for, we know that there are construction industries that can do the work. And what we need now is the expertise from a Contractors Association Board to say that when we look at these Heads of Agreement, this is what we need to incorporate in the Heads of Agreement so that it has the teeth that it needs, and that’s what we can hold the foreign developers and foreign investors to,” Mr Bell continued.

“And when we sit down at the table, if we are able to get the input of the Contractors Association, and are able to put that into Heads of Agreement, that means that even if a percentage of that goes to the association itself, it means that yours can be an entity which can help us - not necessarily just with the construction industry, but with scholarships, building our schools, building our airports, infrastructure upgrade. In that Heads of Agreement, we would have included you. So that’s coming.”

Mr Bell warned contractors that many of their current hiring practices for expatriate employees do not align with Immigration laws. As an example, he said the tendency to advertise jobs at a higher wage rate on the foreign market than in The Bahamas will not be tolerated.

“Over the past months, the Department of Labour has increased the number of investigations and special operations to address undocumented and improperly documented migrants in The Bahamas. Following these actions, it is clear that there are significant challenges within the construction industry as many practices do not align with Immigration laws and policies,” Mr Bell said.

“We have increased our review of permits from employers to ensure that the requests are genuine, and reflect genuine efforts to firstly recruit Bahamians on terms which are reflective of our market realities. Interestingly, we have found several examples where persons have advertised positions at one salary locally only to hire non-Bahamians at a significantly higher salary than the one advertised. Schemes such as this do not conform with the regulations and will not be permitted.”

Mr Bell also warned contractors to avoid so-called fronting arrangements, where they provide the ‘public face’ for businesses that are really owned by foreigners. He called on them to ensure their sub-contractors also adhere to Immigration laws and guidelines.

He said: “Contractors would be aware that this sector is reserved for Bahamians. Yet we have numerous reports of fronting operations where employees are really owners, and have arrangements with Bahamian citizens to submit accurate documents to facilitate approvals.

“This is where contractors must speak up. The system cannot function if we allow persons to corrupt the system by making illegal fronting arrangements. Equally, tourists should not be managing construction firms or projects. If they have no permit they should not be working here.

“It is not acceptable to hire a sub-contractor and fail to determine if your sub-contractor is operating in compliance with laws. Additional changes to the laws and regulations may be required to ensure that this loophole is closed.”

Mr Bell also addressed the need for employers to adhere to guidelines on understudies for specialised and skilled positions. He said that, in many cases, persons nominated to understudy a foreign worker are unaware they were identified as such to Immigration officials.

He said: “What we’ve also been doing is to ensure that while we approve those [permits] that an understudy is identified. And at all levels, what is so amazing to us is that in a significant majority of the cases, and not just in the construction industry, the person who’s supposed to be the understudy does not know that they are understudying somebody.”