Suppliers’ segment of construction industry faces slow growth

THE suppliers’ segment of the construction industry has experienced slow growth over the last three years but anticipates a pickup within a year, says Badili Hardware chair Ashok Kumar.
He said this while expressing the need to make use of local construction suppliers, especially for upcoming resource projects.
“It is no secret that the country has been going through some time of economic hardship,” Kumar said.
“Everyone in business is affected – not only us in construction.
“The construction boom from the PNG LNG has gone and the last three or four years have been tough.
“As a PNG company, and if you are there to participate and enjoy the good times, you have to be there during the hard times and keep our head above water.
“We are happy to see that there are good indications on the horizon for the next 12 to 18 months in terms of new projects coming through.
“That will have beneficial impact on the construction industry.”
Kumar said “homegrown local suppliers like us should always be the first port of call for anyone who does projects here”.
“Unfortunately, we see a lot of builders and project promoters import products from Asia directly, bypassing PNG-based suppliers like us who employ Papua New Guineans and pay taxes here,” he said.
“Local suppliers have to be given an opportunity to participate in some way in the projects that are happening here, instead of builders going directly overseas and most times bringing in sub-standard materials and compromising the quality of the building.
“There has to be support for local suppliers and only when they are not available here, then of course it can be sourced from outside.”