Masterbuilders raise red flag over Government’s failure to spend
Published:Tuesday | October 7, 2025 | 12:09 AMSashana Small/Staff Reporter
The Incorporated Masterbuilders Association of Jamaica (IMAJ) is raising an alarm over what it describes as the persistent underspending of the national capital budget, even as many of its members continue to face prolonged delays in receiving payments.
“If you talk to any contractor who works for the Government, they can tell you about the inability of a multitude of government agencies to just pay their bills in a reasonable time,” Richard Mullings, president of the IMAJ, told The Gleaner.
Mullings said the under execution of the capital budget was irregular under these circumstances, and called for the relevant agencies to investigate.
In its fiscal performance report, the Independent Fiscal Commission (IFC) flagged lower-than-programmed capital spending across the ‘specified public sector’, with only $20.1 billion spent in the first quarter of the 2025-26 fiscal year, compared with a budgeted amount of $40.5 billion. The IFC said this underspending, particularly on infrastructure projects, poses risks to much-needed economic growth.
Mullings stated that IMAJ members and other local contractors are always keen to put in place the necessary resources needed to execute various infrastructure projects for the Government each year. However, their efforts are often hampered by inefficient, bureaucratic processes.
“Instead of going in a normal, orderly fashion, you find many projects are delayed for months; the tenders, the awarding takes long, the actual implementation takes long. And when it’s time to do the work, we find a myriad of issues relating to the quality of the scope of the project, meaning the design and the planning and even the management on behalf of the Government,” he said.
He said these issues often result in contractors being unable to execute the project with resources provided.
“And then we are inefficient in execution of the project as a result, and we lose. You find many contractors therefore don’t survive in the industry, and they come out of the industry because of the way the Government handles the projects. And those that remain have a difficult time projecting and making a reasonable return,” Mullings stated.
SITTING IDLE
Highlighting public discourse which often questions the performance of local contracts in executing projects, the IMAJ, in a release, further stressed that Jamaica’s construction capacity is not lacking, but, rather, is “sitting idle”.
“Contractors’ bonds and resources are tied up while projects crawl through bureaucratic delays. Curiously, and perversely, many contractors wait months to years to be paid for completed works,” it emphasised.
Stating that Jamaica’s builders are “ready and waiting”, the IMAJ said it was the system that must be unlocked for the capital budget to work for the country. It further urged decisive action to fix the system and ensure capital spending translates into real projects.
It is therefore pressing the Government to enforce margin of preference rules, so that Jamaican contractors and suppliers receive the advantages due to them by law; engage industry experts early in the planning phase to set realistic timelines and deliverables; and strengthen public-sector project management and accountability to ensure projects are completed on time, on budget, and to proper standards.