June 2018c

66 67 their insurance coverage – by premiums, over time. “Well, if the life of the contract is fifteen months, you give a 12-month premium, so that by the end of the 12 months, you would have paid for the performance bond.” While there are still many issues that need to be addressed, overall, Taylor believes that the landscape for construction in Jamaica, and thus for IMAJ members, is “looking reasonably well, because the country has embarked on a lot of infrastructure. And our housing stock is too short, so there’s work to be done,” he states. “The challenges we have is that, for ma- jor infrastructure, people like the Chinese and the French can offer the government much better financial terms and are getting those jobs. The WTO (World Trade Organization) says that everybody has the right to bid and there’s not much we can do about it. All we are asking for is if they do win, they can subcontract to some of us.” For 66 years, IMAJ has succeeded in improv- ing the construction industry in Jamaica by ed- ucating and training its members, advocating INCORPORATED MASTERBUILDERS ASSOCIATION OF JAMAICA for them with govern- ment agencies, helping to establish and main- tain industry standards, and informing the public at large of the industry’s benefits to the country’s economy – sufficiently proving President Taylor’s dec- laration that: “Together, we are stronger.” The first thing membership will do is you will have your networking capability increased dramatically. You will have the benefit of constant education; we put on a seminar, every year, for our members. You have the benefit of getting the published union rates, because every two years, we go to negotiations with the union and sign the contract which covers everything from safety to grievance procedures. HUMPHREY TAYLOR ASSOCIATION PRESIDENT