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| Works and Transport Minister Jack Warner tours the Junior Sammy facilities |
Jack Warner told reporters Wednesday the construction industry will soon be revived.
"The construction industry is one of the main drivers to turn the economy around. If the construction industry is sluggish, everything with fall through. My role is to give some serious life to the industry," he said.
And he promised that he will soon make bad roads a thing of the past.
He also announced that Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar will turn the sod for construction of then first phase of the San Fernando to Point Fortin on January 26. The project will provide thousands of jobs and employ local both small and large contractors.
The Works and Transport Minister made the comments following a tour of the facilities of Junior Sammy Group of Companies at Claxton Bay.
"I give the assurance that from January 26 onward, what you see here will be a thing of the past. When I came here this morning and looked around and saw all the equipment in this company—trucks, tractors, caterpillars and cranes—parked up here. I tell myself that something has to be fundamentally wrong.
"In a country where there are such poor roads and so many bad bridges, where there is so much infrastructural work to be done and yet for the equipment I see here in the yard parked up, tells me that there is not enough or no work for you to do. I pledge to find the means to quickly fix this process."
Warner said mainly local contractors will work on the $5 billion highway extension. He said where foreign contractors are employed they would have to give a commitment to have at least a 40 per cent local input.
"Gone are the days when we import foreign labour and foreign equipment to do the job at home, because we believe that we have the competence and capacity right here. We have to rely on local contractors to do things for us," Warner said.
The said with smaller contractors working with the larger ones there will be a transfer of knowledge.
Warner also suggested the establishment of three authorities within his ministry: transport, drainage and roads, which can assume certain roles "and have some degree of control over contractors and where contractors can be assigned to other districts to do jobs over a long term period. They don't have to hustle every six or nine months with the Ministry of Works and Transport for a contract. Therefore they will be able to take control of these areas," he said.
Warner said he is preparing a proposal to take to Cabinet to correct inconsistencies in the construction industry.
He also announced developments relating to other projects, including the Chaguanas District Hospital, which he said will begin in March. Others include the Point Fortin District Hospital and the Mamoral Dam in Central Trinidad.
"We have to remove the gloom and doom which exists on the faces of the contractors, things will change, things must change. But we have to find a faster way of doing things. Roads must be maintained on a sustained basis," he said.
He also announced that Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar will turn the sod for construction of then first phase of the San Fernando to Point Fortin on January 26. The project will provide thousands of jobs and employ local both small and large contractors.
The Works and Transport Minister made the comments following a tour of the facilities of Junior Sammy Group of Companies at Claxton Bay.
"I give the assurance that from January 26 onward, what you see here will be a thing of the past. When I came here this morning and looked around and saw all the equipment in this company—trucks, tractors, caterpillars and cranes—parked up here. I tell myself that something has to be fundamentally wrong.
"In a country where there are such poor roads and so many bad bridges, where there is so much infrastructural work to be done and yet for the equipment I see here in the yard parked up, tells me that there is not enough or no work for you to do. I pledge to find the means to quickly fix this process."
Warner said mainly local contractors will work on the $5 billion highway extension. He said where foreign contractors are employed they would have to give a commitment to have at least a 40 per cent local input.
"Gone are the days when we import foreign labour and foreign equipment to do the job at home, because we believe that we have the competence and capacity right here. We have to rely on local contractors to do things for us," Warner said.
The said with smaller contractors working with the larger ones there will be a transfer of knowledge.
Warner also suggested the establishment of three authorities within his ministry: transport, drainage and roads, which can assume certain roles "and have some degree of control over contractors and where contractors can be assigned to other districts to do jobs over a long term period. They don't have to hustle every six or nine months with the Ministry of Works and Transport for a contract. Therefore they will be able to take control of these areas," he said.
Warner said he is preparing a proposal to take to Cabinet to correct inconsistencies in the construction industry.
He also announced developments relating to other projects, including the Chaguanas District Hospital, which he said will begin in March. Others include the Point Fortin District Hospital and the Mamoral Dam in Central Trinidad.
"We have to remove the gloom and doom which exists on the faces of the contractors, things will change, things must change. But we have to find a faster way of doing things. Roads must be maintained on a sustained basis," he said.
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