WHEN it comes to housing construction in Jamaica you can expect to see basic materials like concrete and wood. But with housing prices becoming more elusive for low- to middle-income earners, developers and housing agencies are going back to the drawing board.

The National Housing Trust (NHT), for example, is pumping $54 million into a project to explore the potential use of bamboo in affordable housing. The project is a collaboration with the Bureau of Standards Jamaica (BSJ) and the Bamboo Industry Association of Jamaica (BIAJ).

Chairman of the BIAJ, Robert Rainford said: “The first year was just proprietary work. Year two now, the actual research will start where the technical people and the experts will be testing to make sure that our bamboo is suitable for construction, and in year three we’ll set up a facility where you will see a physical house.”

The project is expected to complement the commitment made by the Government earlier this year to deliver 70,000 affordable housing solutions for Jamaicans within the next five years.

A demonstration facility is also being established with support from the Chinese Government in the sum of approximately US$2 million. The facility will be equipped to provide practical training in bamboo technology and commercial production. “This came out of the very successful Caribbean International Bamboo Symposium held in November 2018 at the Jamaica Conference Centre,” said Rainford.

As part of the NHT affordable housing project, a bamboo mat board (BMB) project is also underway in association with Resource Fiber in Alabama, USA. The BMB will see pre-processed Bambusa vulgaris from Jamaica being used to produce BMB from a variety of wooden products.

The BIAJ chairman noted that “once the tests done by Resource Fiber [are] successful the BMB produced will provide import substitution for the construction industry, which imported $3 billion worth of plyboard in 2017. Eventually, a factory will be established in Jamaica by Resource Fiber to produce BMB”.

Bamboo is one of the world’s fastest-growing plants and a rapidly renewable source of fibre. It’s a multipurpose, non-timber forest resource which supports value chains across the world. The industry worldwide commands a market of US$60 billion and provides significant opportunities for Jamaica as a developing State which has considerable bamboo resources.

The trade data reported that between 2010 and 2012 Jamaica imported an average of US$25 million worth of bamboo products which at today’s rate of exchange would equate to $3.75 billion, which presents an opportunity for import substitution.

In 2015 Jamaica became the chair of the International Bamboo and Rattan Organization (INBAR) Council of 43 member states for three years. Jamaica started to take steps to develop a domestic bamboo industry, with four nascent value chains: bamboo charcoal, bamboo paper and textile, bamboo wooden products and furniture and bamboo construction. Bamboo edibles were later added. These are being developed under the facilitation of the Bureau of Standards, Jamaica (BSJ) to ensure a standards-led and market-driven industry.

A pre-processing bamboo facility has been set up in Peckham, north-west Clarendon, spearheaded by the PIOJ, where community members have been trained, and others will be trained, with assistance from HEART/NSTA Trust. The project will provide material for the NHT research project. NHT has funded the construction of the building and the Organization of American States (OAS), the Chinese ambassador, as well as Jamaica Environmental Trust, Clarendon Municipal Corporation, Social Development Commission, BSJ, BIAJ and The Biotechnology Centre of The University of the West Indies have all been supporting this project.

Many local individuals with bamboo growing on their land have come forward seeking opportunity in the industry and the association is engaging them to see how best they can be assisted.

The BIAJ is charged with identifying all the owners of property with bamboo growing in Jamaica and with connecting them with members of the association who are in the business of utilising bamboo for commercialisation. The BIAJ/BSJ has sent several Jamaicans to China with the help of INBAR for exposure to techniques in the various aspects of bamboo conversion and commercialisation, including cultivation, bamboo charcoal production, bamboo paper and textile manufacturing, bamboo wooden products and furniture and bamboo in construction.