THE distribution of sub-standard cement to the construction sector by the monopoly Carib Cement and the subsequent shutdown of production at the company’s Rockfort plant has brought work to a standstill islandwide, throwing thousands out of jobs and causing millions of dollars in losses.

The Incorporated Masterbuilders Association of Jamaica said yesterday that a shutdown of worksites has put an estimated 30,000 construction workers out of jobs temporarily.

Michael Archer, the president of the association, said that of the approximately 100,000 people employed in the construction sector, about 75,000 worked in sites.

“I would estimate that at least 20 to 30 per cent of those workers would now be laid off. Literally all concrete works and all sites have been shut down,” said Archer. “A lot of firms are trying to do preparation work, but the bulk of the workers and labourers would now be unemployed as a result of the situation,” said Archer.

Reports of dislocation have come in from every parish since the issue came to public attention after the Carib Cement Company recalled more than 500 tonnes of defective cement, sold in bags and bulk during February.

In May Pen, Clarendon, for instance, the site of a future AzMart Superstore has been deserted since March 7.

“We have shut down the site and everything is dependent on the delivery of concrete,” businessman Mark Azan told the Observer.

Azan said that 35 workers have been laid off at the May Pen site and that it was costing his company, on average, $45,000 per day for security, bank charges and insurance.

“I have no idea when work will resume, we will start when we get certified cement,” he added.

Azan said that two major suppliers of concrete, Pre-Mix and Islandwide Concrete Company (ICCL), have been unable to supply material to his site since the beginning of the month.

Next door at the Bargain Village Plaza construction site, Neville Ennis, the foremen, told the Observer that yesterday would be his last day of mason work.

“We have no more cement and we are not sure when we will get any,” he said.

Ennis added that it was possible that bad cement was used during construction of the new phase of the plaza, but he was uncertain what action the developers would take.

“We used bag cement for some partitions inside and noticed that something was wrong with it,” Ennis said.

At the Pre Mix Limited concrete batching plant, just outside of May Pen, the eerie silence, parked trucks and a chained gate told the story of costly inactivity.

“It has been closed about two weeks,” the lone worker at the plant said. He said there was no guarantee when work will resume. “We have no cement,” he said.

Meanwhile, Leo Taddeo, chairman of New Era Homes, which is now building the upscale Caribbean Estate housing scheme in Portmore, St Catherine, told the Observer that he anticipates that about 75 to 80 per cent of his staff, comprised of approximately 300 workers, will be temporarily laid off by the weekend.

“All that will be left are the machines and the finishing guys,” said Taddeo.

“We are trying to source our cement right now, hopefully we will get that within the next two weeks,” said Taddeo. “If it gets any longer, then it will affect the office staff and everywhere else,” he said.

Another member of the construction industry, Trevor Roberts, CEO of Islandwide Concrete Company Limited, one of the major distributors of concrete, said he has laid off 55 of his 65 workers.

“The industry is virtually shut down right now. I know that throughout the building industry, the lay-offs are 90 per cent of the workforce,” said Roberts. “The only thing a contractor can keep on site is a supervisor and the watchmen,” he said.

Industry officials, meanwhile, said the delay in the start of construction of planned projects would also adversely affect construction companies.

“The effect is astronomical, because we have various projects that we were about to start,” said Junior Lincoln, proprietor of Can-Cara Development Limited. “We had three major projects to start and we had to shelve those projects. you could be talking about 300 to 400 workers,” he said.

Yesterday, the Carib Cement Company said it will today hold a press conference at the company’s plant at Rockfort in East Kingston. The company plans to release preliminary findings of investigations into the circumstances surrounding the release of faulty cement to the market.