After being one of the industries that initially was given some leeway to operate, in early May everything came to halt for construction industry when Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley announced stronger restrictions to stop the rise of covid-19 in Trinidad.
The two months of purgatory was an anxious one for contractors and the workers they employed as their livelihoods suddenly was put on pause.
Glenn Mahabirsingh, president of the Contractors Association, told Guardian Media that his membership was raring to go when the Prime Minister allowed the industry to resume operations, firstly with those attached to government projects at the start of July.
So much so that when the Ministry of Health and UdeCott facilitated a vaccination drive for members of the industry as well as hardware workers, there was an overwhelming response.
“We had two efforts, and those efforts were very successful. In fact we vaccinated in excess of 15,000 people,” said Mahabirsingh, who also explained that vaccine hesitancy was not an issue within the industry.
We have had no reports of persons not wanting to be vaccinated. In fact, when we made the call, we had an overwhelming call back in terms of the vaccinations.”
Mahabirsingh estimated that close to 30,000 people within the industry have been vaccinated.
Most in anticipation of their day back out.
“The industry, the construction industry reopened on the July 5. So we have basically one month in operation since we returned after the stay at home measures. All our members would have been back on the job-site and they are very happy to be back on the job site,” said Mahabirsingh.
“They are very happy to return to site and be productive.”
Despite being one of the more active sectors in terms of work during the course of the pandemic, Mahabirsingh explained the construction industry did face challenges brought upon by the pandemic. Particularly with regard to the sourcing of material to get their work done.
He explained that they have seen material price increases along with challenges with shipment and freight from suppliers abroad.
“So many factories or manufacturing facilities globally would have been affected due to the COVID-19 pandemic over the last 12 months and their operations model would have reduced or stopped in some instances and those reductions or temporary closure would have resulted in a reduction in manufacturing. And therefore there is a demand and supply issue at this current time,” said Mahabirsingh.
Demand and supply often leads to fluctuating prices. And in this case, the contractors have seen prices trend upwards to their detriment.
“So there’s one on the manufacturing side and then too on the logistics and shipping side there is an uptick in demands for containers. Therefore we in Trinidad and Tobago are competing internationally for containers and we have noticed freight prices have gone on a shipping container from $2,500 to much as $10,000,” he said.
Over the course of the pandemic, several members of the public have experienced this phenomena as many seeking to buy cement for home renovation projections were victim to price gouging practices by
some hardwares. Mahabirsingh, however, said there was no issue with cement for the large contractors. Other materials, in particular steel, have seen their cost price rise.
“Aggregate and cement, which is used to make concrete, those prices have been consistent and remained more or less unchanged for the last 12 months, in fact more than that 24 months,” he said.
“There were no changes in the price in cement and concrete. Those prices have been more or less consistent. What we have seen is we have seen an increase in steel prices. Any product has steel input in it,” he said. “For example rebar (reinforcing bar), structural steel, roofing sheeting, cooling, decking sheets, pipes those items any construction related items with steel inputs have increased significantly as much as 50 to 60 per cent, 100 per cent in some instances.”
Wood products were also on the rise.
“We have seen an increase in timber prices which is two by fours, four by fours and ply sheets which is used significantly in construction for temporary works and foam works we have seen an increase in those prices,” Mahabirsingh told the Business Guardian.
Earlier this month managing director of Domino’s T&T, Daniel Fakoory also noted the increase in construction costs which impacted their plans to expand their restaurant chain.
Trinidad based Jamaican architect Jason Scarlett also noted the increase in construction materials in an interview with the Business Guardian earlier this year. Scarlett said the change in prices, which he called surprising, prompted him to be a bit more creative particularly with home renovation projects he had been hired to undertake.
In spite of these new hurdles, the construction industry is enjoying a period where there is no shortage of work.
The two month pause also did not reduce the amount of major projects which had been underway.
The President of the Contractors Association was pleased that the pandemic did not deprive his membership of opportunities as several major projects being undertaken by the government or even the private sector have remained ongoing.
“The projects that were ongoing in terms of state enterprise projects which we are aware of, continue to be ongoing. We have a lot of infrastructure projects going on such as along the East West corridor in terms of the road to Toco. We have the Point Fortin Highway. A series of maintenance and upgrade projects, HDC have the housing, we have two major hospitals, police stations. From our analysis, there were no projects that were shelved or stopped. All the projects that were in implementation is continuing to be implemented, so there is a level of continuity,” he said.
Mahabirsingh explained that while the stay at home measures would have brought some level of activity for the industry, his membership still largely relied on the major projects to maintain their livelihoods.
“During the stay at home measures, you would have find people would have undertaken do it yourself projects. It would have tick over but it would not have been enough to make an impact because you know really the larger side of the construction sector is the projects. State enterprise projects, the private sector development projects, which involves main contractors, sub contractors large amount of workforce where you have the large consumption taking place,” he said.
Looking to the future, Mahabirsingh is hoping the construction industry can transcend the borders of Trinidad and Tobago and potentially could generate greater foreign exchange revenue.
“We have a significant amount of equipment assets. We have a huge knowledge base. We have a strong track record of delivery in terms of the construction industry,” said Mahabirsingh. “I think the construction industry should be used to stimulate the economy post COVID.”
Mahabirsingh said the industry’s expertise could be useful across the Caribbean.
“The construction industry could be used to earn foreign exchange in terms of providing construction services throughout the Caribbean as well as Guyana. Given our maturity in providing construction services. I think there is a huge potential there,” Mahabirsingh said.