Bermuda’s construction crisis will barely be improved by the imminent hospital redevelopment and Waterloo House hotel project, according to Construction Association of Bermuda president Andy Pereira.He said only two major Bermudian contractors are involved in the developments, with just a handful of local subcontractors likely to be used.Foreign expertise will also be needed, Mr Pereira said, meaning job opportunities for locals will only make a small dent in the estimated 2,000 unemployed construction workers across the Island.He added that local companies specialising in finishing work would not be required until 2012 as they wait for excavation and structural jobs to be completed.“Even with the hospital and Waterloo redevelopments scheduled to begin in the first quarter of this year, there will be little change in the effects of the construction decline,” Mr Pereira told The Royal Gazette.“Only a handful of local subcontractors will be involved in these projects and within any local company involved there will be a portion of permit workers due to the various work specialties.“The majority of these two buildings are reinforced concrete. This Island does not have a local forming company with the expertise and equipment to perform this work in its entirety.“Therefore foreign expertise is required and local workers will augment these crews.”Based on an estimation of a combined 300 workers on the two projects, Mr Pereira predicted only about 100 of those would be for locals.He continued: “The first 18 months of these projects will deal with excavation and structure, the following 18 months will deal with finishes.“This means all finishing companies such as drywall, tiling, painting, exterior finishers, roofers, millwork, flooring, audio/visual and IT companies will not be involved in these projects until 2012.“Although these two jobs will help, it will not drastically change the number of people out of work.”Bermuda Employers’ Council estimates new work orders are less than ten percent of their level before the recession.Mr Pereira said companies of all sizes are facing difficulties, adding: “The general trend is to downsize at the moment, or wind up your business.“There hasn’t been any significant groundbreaking in several months. Trucking, excavation, wet trades, mechanical and electrical companies, to mention a few, are feeling it pretty bad right now.“The finish trade are also starting to feel the pain and soon there will be a serious lull in their workload. There currently are not enough permitted projects on the horizon to enable job revitalisation.“Without the creation of new projects or renovation work, the unemployment levels will continue to suffer.”He said the commencement of projects like the National Aquatic Centre and Wedco housing would help, but that the industry knows little about who is contracted to build them.Mr Pereira said Government needs to do more to help hotel projects get off the ground by making it as attractive as possible to invest and do business in Bermuda, and giving additional concessions to hotel developers.“Other jurisdictions are doing far more to attract developers and we will continue to lose out as a result,” he said.“We have to try harder, even, as the cost of building and operating a hotel in Bermuda far outweighs our competition to the south.”He said Government could also help by:l ensuring the planning process works as efficiently as possible;l working more closely with the industry to eliminate hold-ups in the work permit process which delay construction projects;l relaxing property ownership laws which constrain overseas purchases and reduce the inflow of external funds for development;l sorting out the labour training and trade certification process, so that Bermuda is in the strongest position to capitalise when the climate improves.