by Linda Straker

• 2026 Budget was presented in Lower House of Parliament on 1 December
• Lack of local contractor collaboration is hindering their growth and development, and driving foreign work permits
• Many local contractors don’t qualify under Caribbean Development Bank procurement guidance

Infrastructure Minister, Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell, has issued a warning to local contractors who are the holders of government contracts that they would face the consequences as outlined in contracts, if they failed to deliver based on the terms and conditions of the contractual agreement.

“The days when contracts are not terminated, retention clauses and delayed payments are not enforced, it will become a thing of the past,” he told contractors while contributing to the debate of the 2026 Budget or Estimate of Revenue and Expenditure, which was presented in the Lower House of Parliament on 1 December.

“You cannot bid for a project, have the designs, have the plans, get the contracts, and then you decide you want to re-engineer and redesign to delay the work, or decide you not complying with the contract because you feel it suits you,” he said, reminding that “it is the taxpayers’ money that is paying for infrastructure in Grenada.”

Explaining that in the last three and a half years in his capacity as Minister for Infrastructure, he supported and fought for contractors, the Prime Minister said that some of these local contractors are not fighting for themselves at all. “They seem to think the government is blind. They can give us shoddy work, improper work, delayed work, and think they should not be held accountable. Well, I have fought for three and a half years off and on their behalf, I now intend to fight on behalf of the citizens of Grenada,” he said.

“So, for contractors who have the government’s contracts, deliver the people’s work. Put the resources on the sites!” he requested,  while informing the House that many of the contractors don’t want to work together. “They have no capacity, they don’t want to collaborate, and that is what is driving the foreign work permits. That is what is driving more and more foreign non-Grenadians entering the construction industry in Grenada,” said the Prime Minister.

“Many of our local contractors prefer to remain small rather than collaborating with each other and doing things or entering into ventures so that they will get bigger contracts,” he said, explaining to the House that the lack of collaboration is hindering the growth and development of local contractors. “Many of them don’t qualify under the Caribbean Development Bank procurement guidance.”

Millions in infrastructure contracts are awarded annually to contractors. Some of the more significant projects in recent years have extended beyond the contractual period.

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