QPANI welcomes commitment to construction

Construction materials suppliers welcome Finance Minister’s commitment to quicker delivery of projects

THE Quarry Products Association of Northern Ireland ( QPANI ) has welcomed the Finance Minister’s commitment to speed up the delivery of major and economically significant infrastructure projects.

Gordon Best, regional director of QPANI, said: ‘For far too long we have heard talk from the Assembly and Executive of quicker delivery of major infrastructure projects; now we need urgent action.

‘The Minister’s commitment is to be welcomed but must be supported by his Executive colleagues and Assembly parties. The number of delayed or cancelled  infrastructure projects, such as the A5, Desertcreat, schools projects, energy-from-waste and renewable energy projects, are an embarrassment and show that our procurement of construction projects is not fit for purpose. There are too many blockages in the system.

‘While our industry is witnessing an improvement in confidence and orders, we are still very cautious and urge all the political parties to get behind the Procurement Board and the Finance Minister’s proposals. We are simply asking that Northern Ireland follows the examples of Scotland and the Irish Republic, where centralized infrastructure delivery units, populated by procurement and construction experts, deliver projects much quicker and at lower cost.’

Mr Best added: ‘As everyone knows, the whole of the construction industry has been through the worst downturn in living memory, during which we experienced mass migration of skilled workmen and the brightest of our construction-qualified young people. All this at a time when there were a number of projects in the system which were either delayed or cancelled and that could have provided and sustained much-needed jobs within the construction sector.

‘Alarmingly, as I visit and talk to our members around Northern Ireland, their faith and confidence in the Assembly and the Executive’s ability to deliver is at the lowest I can remember. I would urge our politicians to grasp this opportunity to change how we deliver major economically significant projects and, at the same time, rebuild the faith and confidence that our industry has lost.’