Growth in Construction Sector July to Sept. 2004

For the period July to September 2004, the construction and installation sector grew by an estimated 3.7 per cent, relative to the corresponding period of 2003.
This is reported by the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ), in its Economic Update and Outlook for the period.
The PIOJ said the growth was mainly reflected in the non-residential sub-sector and was based on higher levels of capital spending by central government agencies. The increase was also supported by increased expenditure on debris-clearing and renovation activities following the passage of Hurricane Ivan in September.
Cement production, which is a key indicator of the activity in the overall construction industry, grew by 25.3 per cent, relative to the corresponding period of 2003.
For residential, the report noted that there are 228 scheme units at the Aviary Phase II in St. Catherine, which are being constructed under an interim finance plan with the National Housing Trust (NHT); and 399 individual solutions under the Build on Own Land (BOL) financial option offered by the NHT. This is up from 314 solutions for the corresponding period in 2003. There were also housing starts of 42 units at Bogue Phase IV in St. Catherine.
Further, housing completions carried out by individuals under the NHT’s BOL financing option totaled 311, compared with 286 for the corresponding quarter of 2003. The private sector completed 185 units compared with 89 in the corresponding period of the previous year. These included 48 scheme units at Bogue Phase IV, 73 at Innswood Phase IV, 20 units at Eltham and 44 units at Aviary in St. Catherine.
Meanwhile, under its capital project programme, the Government spent $1.37 billion on capital expenditure for the review quarter, more than doubling the amount spent in the corresponding 2003 period.
The Port Authority of Jamaica’s (PAJ) capital expenditure reflected an increase primarily on berths and docks, among other things, totalling $239.96 million.
Capital expenditure on the Northern Coastal Highway project, which is being spearheaded by the National Works Agency (NWA), totalled $171 million, 41 per cent lower than in the corresponding period of 2003.
The Urban Development Corporation’s capital expenditure amounted to $526.4 million, which was some 4.2 per cent higher than in the corresponding quarter for 2003.