Local contractors and builders need to be protected, but at the same time they must be encouraged to improve their attitudes and the quality of their work.
So said Minister of Health and Human Services Hon. Dr. Lillian Boyce, while speaking in the House of Assembly recently on the Builders Bill.
“While we are seeking to help safeguard and promote high standards of workmanship in the construction industry, going forward, we must be careful that we do not in any way marginalize our local contractors, or equally as important, we must not give the impression or perception that we are doing so,” Hon. Boyce told the House.
She noted however that because of the rapidly changing dynamics of the construction industry, Belonger contractors and builders must now be encouraged to present themselves as a new breed of business people who come to the table with their own specific strengths, and who are really serious about leaving their proud marks of workmanship across the country.
She observed that Turks and Caicos Islands is witnessing a remarkable change in the design of building and in the standard and quality of workmanship.
“We are living in a world that is constantly demanding new experience and knowledge, and so, the new breed of business persons including builders and contractors must focus on the delivery of those all-important commodities called confidence and quality. What I’m saying, is that there is no room for more of the same,” she said.
Hon. Boyce said builders and contractors therefore need to have a renewed emphasis on creativity and innovation, so that they will not be left behind.
She had strong words of criticism for those contractors who secured jobs, and instead of supervising them properly, dressed up and spent all day playing dominoes while their employees delivered sloppy work.
Hon. Boyce however gave Belonger builders and contractors the assurance that Government has their best interest at heart.
“Indeed, one of the most pleasant things that has happened to this country in recent years is the fact that many more Turks and Caicos Islanders have moved from the employee mode in the construction industry, to the entrepreneur mode,” she said.
“This is so because since 2003, this government has created the economic environment that has nurtured and stimulated a building boom that has led to more Belongers being major players in all aspects of the construction industry, and consequently becoming
major shapers of the country’s economic destiny. The evidence is there. This is something which, I don’t think the Government is given enough credit for.”
She said the collective task of our builders and contractors is to become masters of the diversity that is presently taking place within their sector, and translate whatever conditions and constraints that may confront them, into profitable advantage.
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