Stabroek Business has been sent a copy of a memorandum from the 70-member General Contrac-tors Association of Guyana (GCAG) seeking what its Secretary Neil Cort-Rogers says are “important meetings” with two cabinet ministers and the Mayor of Georgetown to find solutions to “critical issues” facing the sector.
Three weeks ago, this newspaper met Cort-Rogers and GCAG Vice President Aubrey Jones at which time the two had disclosed that they were desirous of meeting Minis-ter of Public Infrastructure David Patterson to discuss what Jones said were “serious issues” facing the sector. The letter, seen by the Stabroek Business on Tuesday, indicates that the GCAG is also desirous of engaging Minister of Social Protection Volda Lawrence and Mayor Patricia Chase-Green.
While the letter is captioned “safety at work and environmental standards,” Cort-Rogers has told Stabroek Business that there are “other pressing issues” which the association would wish to ventilate with “authority figures” in both government and City Hall.
Cort-Rogers said the association continued to be concerned over “the apparent indifference” to health and safety issues on some work sites, some of which were leading to serious accidents.
“In the past two weeks alone, two families lost loved ones to two fatal accidents on the job, at separate construction sites,” the letter said, adding that at both work sites, the accidents were the result of “poor work as usual.”
GCAG officials had visited the sites and according to the letter had found, among other things, workmen working without safety boots and an absence of harness for scaling heights. It was the impression of the GCAG officials who had visited the work sites that conditions reflected a “total disregard for safety by those contractors and building owners. All that was required was to follow basic safety regulations, which unfortunately is not the case at certain work sites.”
Cort-Rogers said the GCAG intends to attach “the strongest priority” to meeting with the named officials in the letter.
The letter says that the association will be urging “the establishment of a Construction Industrial Licensing Board (CILB) to monitor all contractors and sub-contractor affiliates.” It says that the body will seek to ensure that all contractors are licensed, will require all contractors to pass a CILB test that will cover a range of areas including labour relations, health, safety and labour relations, general building knowledge and basic business accounting and contracting. It is being
proposed that the CILB licence be renewed every two years.
License be renewed every two (2) years
In order to help contractors prepare for the CILB test, GCAG proposes to offer an eight-hour CILB course covering the aforementioned areas once every quarter.
The letter says that the GCAG is more than willing to work with the Ministry of Social Protection “to help establish standards for safe work sites.”
In further support of safe work sites, GCAG members stand ready and willing to take advanced courses in health, safety and environment and, as always, to volunteer to conduct site inspections as necessary, the letter says.
It adds that GCAG formally requests a meeting to be held within the next 30 days and for the City Council to resolve these safety concerns and to ensure that no other families suffer the loss of loved ones due to sub-standard safety practices at work sites.
