Message from President Mikey Joseph at TTCA's 40th Anniversary Dinner & Awards Nov 15th 2008
November 15, 2008
Hilton Trinidad Hotel & Conference Centre
Those of you who attended last year’s dinner may remember that I said it would be the last time I would be addressing you as TTCA’s President. At the time, having held this office since 2004, I felt it was past time that I passed on the baton but the Board requested that I remain and the Membership at the AGM two months ago voted that I do so. And I must admit that - despite the stress, headaches and wrath of my wife - I am loathe to leave before seeing through to the finish some of the very important initiatives begun this year.
Before I continue, I would like to introduce the executive members of our Association, elected at our AGM in September, and I ask those who are present to come forward. Ladies and Gentlemen, I am pleased to present:
The TTCA’s new Vice President – Mr Glen Mahabirsingh of West Altanic Construction Co Ltd, Corporate Secretary and Treasurer - Mr Hugh Schamber of Weathershield Systems Ltd.
Other Members of the Board of Directors are:
Mr. Dave Aqui of the Junior Sammy Group of Companies
Mr. Rodney Cowan of Trinidad Cement Ltd.
Mr. Jerry Medford of Weldfab Ltd.
Mr. Mervyn Chin of KEE-Chanona Ltd.
Our Tobago representative - Mr. Ramlogan Roopnarinesingh of Logan Contracting and Transport Services Ltd.
Mr. Rajendra Maharaj of Coosal’s Construction Company Ltd and
Mr. Victor Phillip – Chairman of Inch By Inch Construction and Manufacturing Co. Ltd.
These gentlemen are all CEOs or senior managers at their companies and bring to the TTCA a wealth of experience, business sense and commitment to the industry. I thank them for agreeing to serve, several of them for a second or third term, and I look forward to working with them to achieve our goals and realise the vision of our founders.
I would also like to take this opportunity to introduce to you the TTCA’s new and first ever General Manager – Mr Neil Marquez - who took up his position on October 01, 2008.
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Ladies and Gentlemen, as the year closes on our 40th anniversary, this evening is an opportunity to say thank you to all those who have helped the TTCA survive and grow over the last 40 years. In this, the season of hope and renewal, and with the US elections demonstrating that all things are possible if a country and a people truly desires change – perhaps we should also take the opportunity to reaffirm our own individual commitment and confidence in this Association and the construction industry and our unswerving determination that the construction industry receive the recognition and regulatory framework due to it as a legitimate and favoured child already making a significant contribution to GDP and economic development, and with a huge potential to contribute even more and to become a significant foreign exchange earner as well.
It always upsets me when I hear political rhetoric about economic diversification and then see public sector projects handed over, with flimsy justification, to foreign firms. Those same projects could have been the soil from which strong, new and enhanced skills in the construction sector could grow. They could have been the seed for new products and services from the manufacturing and financial sectors, generating future non-oil activities and revenue – which is what I keep hearing is a critical economic goal. Our banks would have had the benefit of underwriting the accounts for some of these projects, leading to innovation in financing and products which, in North America, has actually developed into a profession called financial engineering.
Certainly, if the Trinidad and Tobago economy is to achieve its vision of developed nation status and economic diversification, Government will first have to accept that the construction sector is a critical and essential pillar of economic development. U. S. President-elect Barack Obama clearly recognises this. He has already indicated his intention to introduce initiatives that would create construction jobs to help rebuild the US economy.
But, despite the experiences of the most developed nations of the world that favour and facilitate their local construction industries, our own Government seems to have little understanding of the industry’s potential to contribute to economic development. Nor does it seem to recognise the industry’s potential to become globally competitive.
Why is this so hard to accept? We have, in this country and in the region, individual and corporate examples of world-class performance in every sphere. The Caribbean’s superb performance at the Beijing Olympics is the most recent demonstration of the outstanding talent that resides in the region. But that talent did not result in Olympic medals by mere chance or accident. It took the combination of people, who committed themselves to the development of that ability, the support of organisations and, in some cases, government facilitation, to enable that talent to be trained to world-class performance .
That same potential for world-class performance resides in the construction industry. With the right support, we could produce the next Vinci Construction or Bouygies Baitment right here on local soil. But, instead of support, we continually fight opposition and unfair treatment.
Ladies and Gentlemen, the sole surviving Founder of the TTCA - Mr Emile Elias – describes the history of the TTCA as a story of struggle. Decade after decade, the TTCA repeatedly tackles issues that inevitably finds us in conflict with the government. At times, this can be a draining and discouraging reality. At those times, I have to remind myself, and I want to remind you, that every struggle has resulted in the nation being significantly better off than it would otherwise be.
Certainly, it is that continual struggle that has resulted today in an industry that employs 101,820 people directly on construction sites, and perhaps 10 per cent more in administrative and other areas of the industry. That struggle has also allowed the industry to double its contribution to GDP over the past 40 years. In 1968, it accounted for 4.22% of GDP (at current prices). In 2008, according to the Government’s own Review of the Economy, that contribution is now 9.4%.
1960s
Ladies and Gentlemen, in the 1960s, when the Association was founded, local contractors were fighting for fair and equitable treatment. From the start, the Association lobbied against the secrecy surrounding the award of contracts and finally, in the late 1980s, succeeded in getting the NAR Administration to make the opening of tenders public policy.
1970s
In the 1970s, the Association lobbied against government to government contracts and, while it did not get a 100% rollback, it did win concessions that allowed for increased participation of locals on large projects. This encouraged more people to enter the industry, thus increasing the number of contractors.
1980s
The 1980s are best remembered for the protest slogans that read “Cakes for Koreans, Crumbs for locals.” The local construction industry won a major battle in that decade when the vessel bringing a boatload of Koreans with materials to build low-cost houses had to turn back without ever landing.
1990s
The 1990s saw the industry winning the battle for a Commission of Enquiry to investigate corruption in the award of contracts with respect to the Piarco Airport Construction Project. This set the precedent that government employees and even government ministers could be arrested, charged and brought to account for unfair and unethical procurement practices.
Ladies and Gentlemen, in this regard, I want to take a moment to pay tribute to Mr Emile Elias. While I may not always share his opinions, I will always admire him for being one local contractor who is willing to make a financial sacrifice to support his convictions and fight government decisions that he believes are wrong in principle. While there would be some self-interest in this, it is enlightened self-interest. Mr Elias has set legal precedents that have benefited the industry as a whole and held the Government and its procuring agencies to a higher standard of ethics that has benefited the entire society.
Another company that took the Government to court in the1990s, was Jusamco, which sought legal remedy in the courts for the approach the Ministry of Works, under the UNC administration, had taken with respect to paving contracts. Jusamco’s court victory has helped bring greater fairness and equality of treatment to all contractors.
New Millennium
Ladies and Gentlemen, in the first decade of the new millennium, the construction industry has again been engaged in a bitter battle with the Government. We have been struggling to halt what we see as the excesses, the questionable practices and the wasting and loss of hundreds of millions of taxpayers’ money by state procurement agencies, resulting in the appointment of a Commission of Enquiry to investigate the construction sector and a state procurement agency.
As you can see, just from these brief examples, every decade of the last 40 years has seen the same conflicts recurring in new guises.
2008
We are seeing all of it happening again in 2008. Again we have to deal with Government’s preference for foreign contractors, giving identical reasons as on previous occasions and failing to credibly justify their position. Their reasons do not stand up to scrutiny and, as in decades past, these ill-advised policies will produce identical results - excessive spending, no value for money, capital flight, and lost opportunities for development of national industries.
Ladies and Gentlemen, the root cause and recurring theme of every single conflict and newspaper headline on the construction industry over the last four decades can be summed up in three words: Poor Procurement Practices.
I am sure even the Government is becoming tired and stressed from dealing with all the controversy, conflict and allegations of corruption in the construction sector. Yet the remedy is so simple.
Ladies and Gentlemen, this remedy would have even protected the Prime Minister from the BMW fever “which cannot be blamed on the aedes egypti mosquito” and the prescription is already laid out in the White Paper on Public Procurement. All that Government and its procurement agencies have to do is implement and adhere to the policies and guidelines in the White Paper, using transparency, value for money and accountability to track their performance and improvement.
A primary goal of the TTCA in 2009, therefore, is to lobby for the White Paper on Public Procurement to become reality. It is the best Christmas gift that we, as an industry, could give to Trinidad and Tobago. I hope that every individual here, and every member of the Association, will be willing to do whatever they can to help make this happen.
In closing, I want to sincerely thank all those who have served and assisted the TTCA in the past as administrators, clerks, supporters and friends. I also want to thank the media for their work and their persistence in reporting on the issues pertaining to procurement.
Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you for your attention and I look forward to working with you all in the new year to bring change that will see the local industry excel and take its place in the global arena over the next 40 years.
Thank you.
Cover of the TTCA
Membership Directory 2008