And the body that looks after the interest of these players, Construction Industry Council says indications are, at this time, that operators no longer have any “super-confidence” in the local industry.
The industry is a traditional barometer of the national economy.
CIC vice president Gordon Jenkins told Fijilive that it had been two years since the military coup in Dec. 5, 2006 and nothing had changed.
He said every single player in this industry were worried about the current unfavorable situation and the growing uncertainty in the country.
“For now, we’re okay and we will be okay for the next three to four months. After that, we don’t know what will happen. There might be a huge fall after that, who knows,” Jenkins said.
“In past coup situations, things have rejuvenated within 12 months and everybody has some sort of focus on what they’re doing,” he said.
“Here we are two years down the line and everybody is nervous about the situation.”
Jenkins said at present, local developers and contractors were only standing aside and marking time while at the same time keeping their heads above water.
“We’ll continue to mark time and survive in the meantime, but it can’t go on like this much longer because we have already had two years of this and it will only push us beyond average if this uncertain situation continues,” he said.
“We are a little alright at the moment but I’m a little nervous about what it’s going to be like in March.”
He said consultants he had spoken to have all indicated that there was not much work to do, including contractors who admitted their workload was getting slim.
“This is very evident in some of the tenders that we are receiving…all of these guys are prepared to take on stuff at a lesser profit than what they might have done a year ago because right now, it is just about survival.”
Jenkins said some contractors had had to cut jobs by as much as two-thirds of their total workforce.
He said at present, the whole industry was recording only $20 million worth of projects.
“Right now, players in this industry are hanging on and awaiting a change in the situation with attractive incentives to boost their confidence again. So in the meantime, we’ll just wait and see what happens in the next three months,” Jenkins said.
