Fewer Caymanians in Construction
by Brian Buckley
Monday, June 21, 2004
With the ratio of expatriate to Caymanian construction workers rising,
several of Grand Cayman’s leading builders are advocating vocational programmes
to balance the numbers.
Steve Hawley, General Manager of Phoenix Construction and a Director in the
Cayman Contractor’s Association (CCA) said that local job sites are seeing more
and more expatriate workers.
“We do no mean to criticise the skilled work of those foreign nationals now
working here and helping the Cayman scene,” he said, “however, the reality is
that a social imbalance is looming where expats will become increasing more
present in our business than Caymanians.”
Mr Hawley said his true desire, as well as the CCA’s, is to see high school
students, young men, and young women receive strong vocational training so that
they can see the world of opportunities that awaits them in the construction
field. “We’re a patriotic organization. We want to give the jobs to people of
this island. It just becomes frustrating after awhile,” he said.
Supporting this desire to bolster the local construction scene with local
skilled workers, Peter Widmer, Director of Construction with Arch & Godfrey
Cayman Ltd, longs for a Government Incentive Programme that helps train
interested youth. “A skilled carpenter or electrician, with experience and
knowledge, can make upwards of $30 an hour,” he said.
Both Mr Hawley and Mr Widmer expressed that Minister of Human Resources, the
Hon Roy Bodden, whose ministry oversees the Department of Employment Relations (DER),
and Walling Whittaker, the DER Director, have embraced the idea of a more
focused, vocational training for those interested in trades.
One such idea, described by Mr Hawley, envisioned the government using a
portion of the work permit fees for the construction industry in order to create
a sustainable vocational curriculum or vocational center. “If a percentage of
all work permit fees from all construction companies is earmarked for that
vocational programme, then it can be continuously funded and need not worry
about future funds.”
“We’re crying out for this local labour pool,” continued Mr Hawley, noting
that Mr Whittaker of the DER had found merit in this idea and considered it
worthy of pursuing.
Brian Butler of Butler Development Group reiterated points that many builders
on the island had also raised. “There is a misperception that going to work in a
bank or in the hospitality business, because of the dress and work environment,
that it is a better paid field or has more benefits,” he said.
Mr Butler emphasized that a skilled tradesman could do quite well and raise a
family without worry in Cayman. “If interested workers can get over the mental
block of working in dirt and dust, a world of opportunity awaits them,” he said,
adding that as a result, the number of expatriate workers would diminish.
In effort to train more Caymanians for the construction industry, a screened
set of students at John Gray High School have been receiving an education in the
fundamentals of construction.
Hugh Chin-Sinn, Head of Technology at the school, has brought his thirty
years of teaching experience to his students. “Our Building Technology Programme
is open to all students who are interested,” he said, “Our only limitation is
class size. Twelve students will be graduating from the programme this month and
fifteen more are coming up next year.”
The two-year programme has both male and female students learning in the
classroom and in experiential situations. “We do a lot of construction projects
on the campus so that the students get the hands-on, practical component as
well,” said Mr Chin-Sinn.
“I’m extremely proud of the students for they do all the work. For six years
they’ve had a one-hundred percent rate of success with every student in our
programme passing the technical level of their CXC (Caribbean Examination
Council),” he said. He extended gratitude to both the staff at his school and to
the CCA for their continuous and tremendous support.
He said it is possible for the Building Technology Programme to be expanded
to meet the desire of firms on the island for Cayman labour. “We’ve recently
enlarged the programme and two ministries have been talking to us about
expanding the programme.”
Mr Chin-Sinn said that those who have completed this programme now include
many college graduates, architects, owners of their own construction firms,
tradesmen and tradeswomen.
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