By ANNELIA NIXON

Tribune Business Reporter

anixon@tribunemedia.net

Other construction firms yesterday backed assertions by the Bahamian Contractors Association’s (BCA) president that the industry does not need government assistance in sourcing materials.

John Wiberg, owner of Skyline Construction Bahamas, said that while he found Leonard Sands’ remarks a “a little too self-assuring” he concurred with them, while adding: “It’s always nice to have new options and ideas, and definitely new source contacts.”

“He’s kind of half-right and half not-right,” Mr Wiberg said. “It’s kind of a little too self-assuring to assume that you never need help finding resources. But what I think he was trying to say is we’re importing from all over the world every day.

“It’s always nice to have new options and ideas, and definitely new source contacts, but I think what he was trying to say iswe’ve been doing that for a long time anyway. But I think he sounded a little bit arrogant. It sounded like, we don’t need the help; we’ve already been doing this. But then again, it’s not like he knows everything and he knows where to get everything in the world, you know?”

Mr Wiberg, as well as many other contractors, have found themselves looking to other markets for supplies, especially given the threat of US import tariffs on goods imported from Canada, Mexico and China. Cutting out the middleman, many are expanding their business relationships as far as China and South America.

“So most of it comes literally from the US,” Matthew Munroe, principal of Integrity Roofing & Construction, said. “I just try to get competitive pricing from some of the connections that I have. I got a lot of discounts from them because I’ve been dealing with them for quite a few years. And then there’s also a connection to my dad because my dad’s been in the industry for over 30, 40 years.

“So through his connection, being with them, we get pretty good, decent pricing and discounts because of that. A little bit. Not 100 percent but just a little bit. But, in some aspects, it’s still very high, like, fairly. But, that’s how I try to combat a lot of the pricing issues that we have in Nassau so that I could be a little bit competitive and to be able to get those opportunities.

“So basically, I’m actually looking in China. Most of the products that come from the US, most of them actually come from China. What they’ve been doing is they basically up the price what they get from there. So I’m trying to cut the middleman out to focus my efforts on finding those connections in those Chinese markets, so that I can cut the cost a little bit.”

Mr Wiberg said while some finished materials, including doors and windows, can be found in Nassau, he gets the bulk of them from the US. Noting that the supplies from the US come from China anyway, he added that importing directly from China means longer wait times for customers, “like three or four months”.

Valeria Evans, project Manager at Scorpio Construction, said one of the biggest issues with importing from outside the US is the waiting period. However, she added that some vendors manage to get shipment to The Bahamas “in a timely fashion”.

“The biggest negative is the timeline,” Ms Evans said. “But if you can find it, and you can find a vendor that’s suitable, whether it’s the US or the UK, that can get your material here in a timely fashion, it’s worth it at the end of the day. It all depends on how good you are scheduling, and your scheduling skills and getting your material on the island.

“That’s basically what it boils down to, because an item can be sourced from anywhere, even if you get it locally. At the end of the day, our local vendors are still sourcing from either the US or other parts of the world, China or wherever the case may be. And at the end of the day, we could only go to them if they bring in the items in a timely fashion. So, at the end of the day, it all just works out on time management.”

Mr Wiberg said he hopes President Donald Trump is “bluffing” in regards to tariffs placed on major trading partners as the industry would still get “knocked” because shipments coming directly from China come through the US.

Richardson Rolle, owner of Top Builders and Repairs, who is looking to source directly from South America, said while the tariffs have not increased materials prices yet, he has already received “those threatening e-mails”.

“My suppliers haven’t passed the prices on to me yet, but you got those trending e-mails coming,” he said. “There’s nothing quite yet in stone. It’s just threats. I’m just looking. I haven’t locked anything down as yet, because my prices haven’t really changed as yet. So I’m just trying to make the connections.”

Contractors said if the Government wants to help, they prefer it tackle issues regarding long wait times for permits, documents and other approvals as well as relaxing duties and VAT on imports.