By Patrick Cull

Eastern Cape Public Works MEC Christian Martin has warned that opportunities in the construction industry are limited and “we cannot have more contractors than projects, as is fast becoming the case now”.

Addressing the second annual contractors‘ conference in Port Elizabeth, Martin said there was at present a major boom, but this could be short-lived and projects would not be in abundance forever.

He added that it appeared that some people were not interested in entering the construction industry, but were unemployed and saw an opportunity. In this regard, he said, two of the questions that needed to be answered were:

At what stage should discouraging contractor registration be considered, and should not existing contractors be focused on, rather than accommodating new entries?

Looking at how issues raised at the previous conference had been addressed, the MEC said he was pleased that an Accelerated Professional Trade Competency Development programme (APTCoD) had been introduced.

This, he spelled out, sought to revive the “old artisan cadre.

“Through this initiative it is believed the quality of projects will improve and a professional cadre of architects, quantity surveyors and engineers will be produced.”

The memorandums of understanding entered into with Further Education and Training colleges and other tertiary institutions in the province, he added, were aimed at providing the department with artisans who wanted to be apprenticed to get the required practical exposure.

As far as enterprise development was concerned, Martin said, the department recognised the challenges facing contractors and “the reluctance of building material suppliers to provide support to minimise costs”.

He said the department had also addressed the issue of “unbundling tenders” and had designed new tender documents to accommodate contractors at lower grades either in the form of joint ventures or as sub-contractors.

The department, he said, had also introduced the incubator programme with a view to ensuring a structured growth for contractors between grades 3 and 5.

More than 80% of contractors on the CIDB register were grade 1, he said. “Our approach to this was the development of a roster system that would give contractors in grade 1 equal chances to get projects.”

The Herald