The construction industry, ravaged by lack of work in recent years, will
In recent years former construction giants such as Basil Read and Group Five collapsed, citing a lack of state infrastructure work after the 2010 World Cup. These companies also ran off high cost bases as they did work in faraway places, with Group Five investing in road concessions work in Hungary and Basil Read’s airport project in St Helena.
“There is a lot of work coming from the state now. I think over the next 18-24 months companies will tender for and tackle these contracts. We need to get through these two years, amid the pandemic while government works out funding for its rollout,” Clinton Crowie said.“I think there have been negative perceptions around the delivery of state projects which has often been unfair. Many delays in infrastructure projects have come about because of the pandemic.
“It has taken time but we are finally seeing a turnaround in the availability of infrastructure work. We have seen a marked improvement in roads and civil work,” Neff said after the release of financial results for the six months to end-December.