The Incorporated Masterbuilders Association of Jamaica (IMAJ) is calling on the Government to implement a policy to push the development of local contractors and the construction industry.

The call follows remarks made by Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness at a ground-breaking ceremony for the Galina Housing Development in St Mary on Friday.

Holness argued that Jamaica needs a contracting class that thinks at an enterprise scale and encouraged local contractors to expand their capacity in line with the country’s growing demand for housing solutions.

In its response, the IMAJ said it agrees with the comments by Holness, but argued that in order for local contractors to meet the infrastructure demands of national development, more support is needed for them to operate at higher levels of scale, capitalisation, technology, and management capacity.

“Local contractors cannot grow their balance sheets, invest in equipment, hire and train workers, and absorb projects of greater scale where payment timelines are uncertain, procurement timelines make planning difficult, variation claims remain unresolved for prolonged periods, and foreign competitors operate with financing, and concessionary arrangements not available on equivalent terms to Jamaican private enterprise” IMAJ said in a media release.

The IMAJ pointed out that there is a public narrative that treats project delays as a contractor’s problem alone and argued that many delays arise from scope changes, design finalisation, approvals, site conditions, variation processing, and other project-management issues within the wider delivery system.

“If those realities are not acknowledged, local contractors are unfairly blamed for systemic weaknesses, and the country discourages the very talent and investment it needs to build long-term construction capacity,

“IMAJ is, therefore, calling for the Government’s Emerging Contractor Capacity Policy to be developed in direct consultation with the organised construction industry, and to address four urgent areas,” the release added.

According to the IMAJ, the capital base of local contractors must also be supported as they cannot invest in the way Holness is calling for without affordable capital to do it.

“First, Jamaica needs a dedicated contractor enterprise capacity programme, delivered through the Development Bank of Jamaica or a structured partnership with housing development entities such as the NHT [National Housing Trust], providing local firms with access to equipment financing, working capital support, bonding facility support, technical training, and management capacity-building.”

The release further added that the current state of public procurement is laborious and discourages private firms from entering into the public contracting space.

“Second, public sector procurement and project management must operate with the same discipline now being demanded of contractors. Agencies must be held to defined timelines for procurement decisions, certification of contractor’s invoices, processing of variations, and, importantly, payment of certified sums.

“The current environment, where project decisions, payment, and variation resolution timelines remain uncertain, makes it much harder for contractors to sustain the investment and growth the Government is asking for,” the IMAJ argued.

The organisation added that there must be a stipulation within the contracts of foreign developers that enforces knowledge transfer and human development.

“Third, foreign contractor participation in Jamaica must be governed by a transparent and enforceable local participation framework. IMAJ supports Prime Minister Holness’s commitment at Galina that these engagements must not be extractive and must include skills transfer, technology transfer, Jamaican technical expertise, and corporate social responsibility.

“Those commitments must now become binding contractual obligations, with published targets for Jamaican employment percentages, local subcontracting, local materials procurement, skills certification outcomes, and community investment. Compliance must be publicly reported. The policy commitment made at the ground-breaking must be a measurable obligation in the contract,” said the IMAJ.

The association further argued that it must be formally included in the development of any national policy intended to build local contractor capacity.

“A policy designed for the construction industry without the organised construction industry at the table will not adequately address the real constraints faced on the ground. IMAJ formally requests a seat in that process,” the release added.