By Damion Mitchell, Staff ReporterEXTORTION IS still at an "unacceptably high" level within the construction industry, says Donald Mullings, president of the Incorporated Masterbuilders Association of Jamaica.
But, according to Mr. Mullings, "The fight is on... we will do everything in our power to deal with it and we have no intention of giving up."
He told The Gleaner this on Saturday night, shortly after the association's annual dinner and dance at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel, New Kingston.
He said that while there had been positive results from the anti-extortion initiatives proposed by the association last year, a true assessment was not possible, given that many construction projects, the majority of which were government-funded, had been discontinued because of non-payment of the extortion money demanded.
"One of our problems was that of political appointment (of persons working on construction) sites but there has been some improvement," Mr. Mullings said.
This concern was also highlighted in a four-point anti-extortion proposal tabled by the association last year.
Other proposals were for the security forces to provide a significant presence at the start of all construction projects once their assistance was sought; the Government, with the assistance of the Incorporated Masterbuilders Association of Jamaica, must develop a public education programme against extortion, and that a structured training and certification programme of all workers in the industry should be undertaken.
NOT REPORTING CASES TO COPS
Ivan Anderson, chief executive officer of the National Works Agency (NWA), said more contractors were now willing to report cases of extortion.
Mr. Anderson was unable to provide the figures indicating the number of reported offences, but he said, "We have been trying to work with the contractors and the community to deal with the problem." However, he said, "It is still a significant problem, it is a major problem."
He said there should be a clear policy against the political appointment of employees for construction programmes.
Last year more than six major projects had to be halted because of extortion demands.
The Old Harbour bypass was also severely affected by persons demanding money from the project.
In September, the NWA reported that in addition to the $750,000 worth of tools and materials that were stolen from the project, hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses were incurred because of extortion.
Extortionists were reportedly demanding from $100,000 to $400,000 per fortnight for the contract period.
Extortion rackets, the majority of which target Government infrastructure projects, are estimated to rake in $5 billion a year.
