Fifteen construction workers kept busy pouring concrete atop the three-storey building overlooking Road Harbour under the Monday afternoon sun. Their project, a 44-room expansion of Maria’s by the Sea, is estimated to cost $5 million, according to the project’s Dec. 13, 2006 application to the Planning Authority.
In 2006, construction activity constituted 5.41 percent of the territory’s Gross Domestic Product, according to the Development Planning Unit. By 2010, that number had shrunk to an estimated 4.64 percent.
Like the slowdown in the tourism and financial services sectors of the Virgin Islands economy, construction activity has been hit hard by the global recession, according to several candidates vying for a legislative seat in the Nov. 7 election.
“We have a tremendous problem where construction is dead. We don’t have enough licences or permits being issued for construction,” said Allen Wheatley, a construction company owner who is contesting the Seventh District seat under his Party of the People. Speaking at a Sept. 30 candidate forum at the H. Lavity Stoutt Community College, Mr. Wheatley, who is currently his party’s only candidate, said the sector could use some help.
Vernon Malone (R-at large), a Virgin Islands Party representative campaigning for re-election, is of a similar opinion. Speaking at a VIP campaign rally Saturday, he said that he’s heard from many people in the construction, hospitality and retail industries that are jobless or underemployed.
Many candidates and residents share that view. In an unscientific online survey conducted by this newspaper this year, 122 of 167 respondents ranked the economy one of the top five issues facing the territory.
Neil Smith, the territory’s financial secretary, said in a September interview that he believes the VI’s next government must re-evaluate its priorities and look to “recharge” the economy.
See the Oct. 13, 2011 edition for full coverage.