Leading Jamaican architect Evan Williams is bemoaning the demise of the Jamaican construction and architectural industry as a result of major projects being awarded to Chinese firms.
Williams recently oversaw the construction and design of the extended-stay 48-room business hotel, the R, on Renfrew Road in Kingston, which came in at a cost of US$6.5 million. The R is now open for business with a grand opening ceremony pencilled in for mid-March.
Williams, who heads the architectural firm Design Collaborative, argued that Jamaica has given its construction industry over to the Chinese with local tradesmen and craftsmen left out in the cold.
“The Jamaican construction industry is coming under tremendous pressure with many of our building professionals having to leave the country. On this project, which took two and a half years to complete, many of the Jamaican professionals left. Why? Because we have given our construction industry to the Chinese,” Williams told the Jamaica Observer.
“The Chinese come in and do not have to subscribe to the same sort of scrutiny that our master builders are subjected to. The Chinese construction companies ignore Jamaican expertise, and guess what, they don’t pay the same taxes and duties and can import whatever and whenever they want,” said Williams.
In a career spanning 50 years, Williams’ architectural skills have been engaged on some of Jamaica’s major hotel projects including Sandals, Couples, the Pegasus, Half Moon, and Round Hill.
He applauds the recent decision taken by the Government to increase the number of floors on buildings and to look up to the skyline rather than utilise scarce land for commercial activity.
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