News

1061 building permits issued in 2020

March 24, 2021 10:43 am

Local Government Minister, Premila Kumar.

Despite the impact of COVID-19 pandemic, investor confidence and investment in the building and construction industry did not entirely plummet.

Local Government Minister, Premila Kumar says the number of building permits issued declined to 1,061 with a total value of $237.5 million dollars.

She says this represents a 33% decline in the issuance of building permits when compared with 2019.

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Kumar adds the decline in Building Permits was expected, given bank loans not being approved and constructions being temporarily halted.

The shortage of building materials due to delayed shipments ultimately meant incomplete buildings, which also resulted in the non-issuance of the completion certificates.

The Department of Town and Country Planning instituted a process in conjunction with Municipal Councils to ‘fast track’ Building applications with a value of $1 million or more.

This meant that major building applications were forwarded within 24 hours for decisions to be made within 5 working days.

24 Building applications worth $167.1 million were approved between September and December 2020.