New group to tackle product supply issues
A new taskforce to prevent building product shortages bringing the industry to a standstill, as the Gib crisis did, has been set up, Building and Construction Minister Megan Woods says.
Earlier this year, a shortage of plasterboard, particularly domestically produced Gib, created chaos as many builders were unable to get the amount required to continue jobs, and others paid huge amounts to get it.
It prompted Woods to set up a six-person ministerial plasterboard taskforce in June, and the new critical materials taskforce was intended to build on it.
The new group was made up of members of the earlier taskforce, and experts in areas such as smaller operations, design, consenting, products and procurement.
Woods said it would watch for emerging supply chain risks in the industry, address any building material shortages, and focus on maximising productivity.
The plasterboard taskforce had showed the Government and the sector could work together to troubleshoot the shortage quickly and pragmatically, she said.
There had been a 444% increase in the amount of plasterboard imported into the country, from the beginning of January to October, and the import trend was expected to continue till the end of the year.
‘‘The new taskforce will use the valuable lessons learnt to be proactive and forward-looking, so we can identify emerging risks and respond as quickly as possible,’’ Woods said.
‘‘While we can be optimistic about the opportunities for our economy, we know we are facing a period of global turmoil. There will be more headwinds, which potentially means more materials shortages. We are ready.’’
Building Industry Federation chief executive Julien Leys, who is on the new taskforce, said it had a much bigger remit than the earlier one, as it would look at the entire building supply chain and all the materials in it.
‘‘It’s a good, proactive initiative, and shows there is now a better understanding in government of the size, and importance, of the construction industry to the economy, and as an employer,’’ Leys said.
The Ministry of Building, Innovation and Employment would lead the ‘‘critical materials and products work programme’’ in partnership with the taskforce, and would provide Woods with weekly reports.