Guyana hosted yet another Building Expo and from all reports and indications it was a success and was bigger than the previous one.
This is not surprising because over the last decade the local construction sector has been booming largely due to the dramatic increase in government’s housing programme, which has seen an unprecedented number of Guyanese receiving house lots and achieving the dream of owning their own homes. In this process there has been an obvious increase in demand for building materials, machinery, skilled labour and household equipment and appliances. As a result the construction sector has now become a major contributor to the growth of the national economy which perhaps has become the most resilient in the region.
According to the Vice-Chairman of the Private Sector Commission, mr. Clinton Urling, the first Expo in 2010 started due to the high demand from the building and construction sector, but “I think that no one then had any idea that it would have grown to the level that it has in just two short years.”
“It is important for us to reflect at times like these on how resilient the Guyanese economy has become in the face of overwhelming global odds recently,” he noted recalling that last year, the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 5.4 percent, and though the principal contributors to this are the mining and quarry sectors, all of the other sectors experienced positive growth.
Even manufacturing, which has been sluggish for some years grew by a significant 6.8 percent, he highlighted, and the construction grew by 2.8 percent, the PSC Vice-Chairman outlined.
He said the visible evidence of the number of new homes and businesses being constructed, in every part of the country speaks even louder than official statistics, adding: “I think that no one here would doubt that our building boom is continuing even in the face of shortage and high prices of building and construction materials.”
It is obvious therefore that the Building Expo is a logical outcome of the booming construction sector and offers our local entrepreneurs involved in the construction business a wonderful opportunity to spread their wings to other countries in the region, thereby expanding their businesses.
At the same time, would-be home builders would also have had an opportunity to be exposed to a wide variety of construction styles and options available to them especially with respect to constructing their homes in a most economical way without compromising safety and quality. Actually, this has been one of the major objectives behind the initiation of the event which began in 2010 as a result of the initiative by the Ministry of Housing and Water.
However, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Housing and Water, Emile Mc Garrell, made a most pertinent observation when he said that the partnership between the government and the private sector is critical for the future of the building and construction landscape of Guyana.
He said the Building Expo is a “recognition of the strengthening partnership between the government and the private sector for achieving the goals of sustainable communities.
“This partnership has been pivotal in the expansion of the construction sector and of the housing sector; the partnership also is critical for the future building and construction landscape of Guyana – it is, indeed, important for the challenge ahead,” he recognised.
As Guyana moves forward, the Permanent Secretary said they must relinquish old methods and practices that are no longer relevant to the new building context and construction challenges.
Indeed, one of the pillars of the government’s policy has been the nurturing of a growing partnership with the private sector and one tangible demonstration of this has been the construction of the Berbice River Bridge.
Nevertheless, while the housing programme has been undoubtedly a success there are some areas for improvement. One of them is the relatively high costs of house lots which prohibit many low-income earners from becoming home owners. Another is the relative high costs of building materials and in this regard, ways and means should be explored to see how these costs could be reduced. In this way, the growth of the construction sector could be further facilitated as more Guyanese, particularly among the lower-income earners, would be able to afford building their homes.