The Construction Industry Development Board (Amendment) Act was passed with amendments in the National Assembly last Tuesday. During his summing up, the Minister of National Infrastructures, Bobby Hurrreeram made it clear that the objective of this law is to give new life to the construction sector.
Bobby Nurreeram said that it is under the MSM government that the Construction Industry Development Board is operating as it should. “We are now taking this new legislation a step further to empower the CIDB. Indeed, the bill will allow the CIDB to fully assume its role as a regulator of the construction industry,” he said.
Concerning tender documents, he maintained that for ages, engineers have always prepared tender documents, even before the advent of the “QS Profession”. “He quotes international organizations. I hope he is aware that the QS Profession does not even exist in many jurisdictions around the world where engineers have provided the ‘full range of services’. These changes will certainly not jeopardize the work of any professional, quite the contrary. I would like to reiterate that so far, NO joint venture between foreign and local consultants, under the current conditions, has been registered with the CIDB,” he said.
However, the Minister maintained that there have been many agreements “in the black”, outside the eyes of the law. “Which brings me back to say this when I mentioned that some people need to behave like responsible and mature adults. And as I mentioned in my intervention in the second reading: we do not understand how a foreign consultant will come to invest in Mauritius, when he knows at the very beginning, that for every rupee, he will have to give 51 cents to a local partner, regardless of the latter’s contribution or expertise. We know what happens in such cases in practice. There is exploitation! Junior and inexperienced professionals are integrated. Now, with this bill, the CIDB will be able to track down these people and regulate more effectively,” he said.
Harmonization of laws
The Minister of National Infrastructure once again emphasized that it was necessary to harmonize existing legislation, given the dynamic nature of the construction industry. “There have been consultations with all relevant stakeholders on the draft law and on the proposed regulation that will follow. We cannot continue with the situation where different regulatory bodies for individual professionals in the construction industry and the CIDB for the construction sector are governed by legislation that is not in harmony with each other. What seemed impossible a year ago is now a reality: the construction sector is the engine of infrastructure development and an engine of economic growth. The hard work only begins now. There is also the need to be open to the world. To push our limits even further, we need foreign investment, and especially foreign expertise. We need to improve the ease of doing business, to attract these foreign experts to participate in the development of our country’s infrastructure. This is a unique opportunity to lay the foundation for the Mauritius of tomorrow,” he said.
Knowledge and expertise
Bobby Hurreeram pointed out that construction has evolved over the years and developed countries are years ahead in terms of technology, built environment and, most importantly, resilience to climate change. “We need their knowledge and expertise to go further. We need this skill and technology transfer that will shape not only our physical landscape, but also the young architects, quantity surveyors, engineers and all the other professionals involved in the realization of the project, so that one day we can stand up and undertake projects for which, now, we do not have the know-how and the skill. There are, now, foreign investors, who have considerable sums of money and are ready to participate in major infrastructure projects in the country. Imagine how essential it would be, in these difficult times, to harvest foreign direct investments, through our strategy to stimulate growth with the construction sector as a major pillar of our economy. And that is exactly the overall objective of the bill,” he maintained.
