Construction jobs in the balance in cement dispute
By Scott Neil Deputy Business Editor
More than 1,500 construction industry jobs in Bermuda hang in the balance today with no solid evidence that Government has arranged a back-up plan to fill the gap created by the decision to evict the Bermuda Cement Company from Dockyard at the end of December.
A drying up of bulk cement supply will lead to some job lay-offs within a matter of days, according to Alex DeCouto president of the Construction Association of Bermuda.
In a two-page statement about the situation, Minister of Works and Engineering Dennis Lister yesterday used less than 20 words to describe what the future holds regarding Bermuda's bulk cement supplies.
"(Government) is assured that other private entrepreneurs are actively engaged in securing the ability to provide cement to the Island," he said.
A request from The Royal Gazette for elaboration has, as yet, not been met.
Andrew Dias, the general manager of the Government quango West End Development Company, which this week ordered the cement company to halt its operations at the end of year, was reported to be off the Island.
Calls to Wedco chairman Stanley Lee made on Thursday and yesterday remain unreturned.
The construction industry is keeping an anxious watch on developments. Mr. DeCouto said the CAOB had held "high-level" talks with Government on Thursday night following the unexpected news that the Bermuda Cement Company — the Island's sole bulk cement supplier — was having its lease to operate the Dockyard silo facility terminated as of December 31.
He said: "We have received enough information to believe that something can be pulled together to ensure the cement supply will continue.
"They say they are in talks with a group or a supply company to make sure the supply is not interrupted. But I have no details about who is involved.
"We would ask now that the Government arrange to tell the public what is happening, because uncertainty is a big problem and may create panic buying."
The CAOB does not want to be involved in the disagreement between the cement company and Wedco, which has led to the lease termination, but Mr. DeCouto said the impact of an interruption to the Island's bulk supplies would overshadow any unresolved issues between those two parties.
Bermuda is currently enjoying a construction sector boom with Government figures for 2006 showing 3,653 construction industry jobs. Of those, around half are employed by the 10 biggest construction operators on the Island and they are the ones involved in major projects who require daily supplies of bulk cement.
What is critical, according to Mr. DeCouto, is for confirmation to be given that the Island's bulk cement supply will not be interrupted. Cement shipments are made once a month to the Island and stored in the twin silos at Dockyard.
Jim Butterfield, president of the cement company, has warned that unless he knows who is taking over the operation after December 31 he will sell and return $100,000 of spare parts and equipment to the US, causing a likely interruption to the cement supply even if a new facility operator is eventually found.
An interruption to bulk supplies of between 10 days and two weeks will be enough to see construction workers being laid-off from major projects, and expected knock-on effects for sub-contractors such as electricians and plumbers, warns CAOB president Mr. DeCouto.
"The largest companies depend on ready mix cement and if they do not have any after 10 days they would start to lay off," he said.
He is asking construction companies not to panic buy at this point. He said the smaller operators who use bagged cement would not be so affected as bag cement can be readily imported by container ship and stored.
The demand for the Bermuda Cement Company to vacate the facility at Dockyard, where it has operated for the last 43 years, came after a breakdown in its relationship with landlord Wedco.
