Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves said he had been informed there was a problem at a number of construction sites throughout St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
Getting skilled personnel in certain areas is a challenge, Gonsalves said.
“One contractor told me that there have been problems getting skilled carpenters and joiners. Others may have a problem with skilled masons and the like, but a number of our skilled personnel, as you know, they migrate seasonally. And it depends on where the work is”, Gonsalves stated.
The PM says more persons would have to be trained in various fields as hotels are being constructed across the island.
Gonsalves gives an update on Black Sands, Royal Mill
“The investors at Black Sands resort said that by August 2023, they should be finished. They’re targeting to finish the 50 rooms in the ten villas, and then they want to begin the 200-room block. That’s the new target, but of course, having built the five buildings of ten rooms each, they have to put in ancillary facilities in addition to restaurants and the like”.
In relation to the Royal Mill hotel, Gonsalves said he was advised that an issue with the installation of 3Phase electricity would have caused the pace of construction to slow somewhat.
“I’ve been advised that sixty or 70 workers may be there and I expect that would be double check this week. On the site there they were held up somewhat because they didn’t have Three-Phase electricity. On Sunday morning, I was advised that Vinlec is putting in the Three-Phase. There seems to have been a difference, as I gather, between when the investors requested the installation and whatever Vinlec had delayed the installation. That’s kind of a hiccup, a communication misunderstanding”, Gonsalves said.
