Local contractors will soon receive expanded support to strengthen their qualifications.

The Ministry of Works is establishing a Contractor Support Unit to assist with bid preparation and costing, provide technical and administrative guidance, deliver business development training, and offer skills upgrades aligned with international standards.

This is one of several policies presented to contractors who met with the Cabinet last week to outline concerns and challenges.

“Now this initiative is designed to prepare the local companies for participation in an upcoming major tendering process. As you’re aware, the Caribbean Development Bank will be funding works on Barbuda, and so tendering should commence very soon and so, the Ministry of Works wants to assist these contractors in developing their bids,” Director General of Communications Maurice Merchant explained.

A workshop is scheduled for today at the John E. St. Luce Building to support bid preparation for this and future projects.

“Also, the cabinet as a policy says that it reaffirmed its commitment to a more timely payment cycle, recognizing that predictable cash flow is critical for contractors to operate and to perform at optimal levels.”

“There will also be a joint contracting for capacity transfer. The ministry is pushing this, and it is to enable joint contracts between local contractors and well-established firms, and this will facilitate knowledge transfer, shared responsibility, enhanced access to working capital, and also stronger project management exposure for them through these joint contracting possibilities,” Merchant added.

Additional meetings with the Cabinet are planned, and outreach to farmers is being arranged.