By Marlon Madden
An infrastructure management consultant is sounding the alarm that the Barbados government and some private sector companies are losing millions of dollars and significant hours of productivity due to poor building maintenance.
Chief Executive Officer of H2 Assets Inc. Albert Chesney gave the assessment on Thursday, as he announced the launch of the fifth Sustainable Facilities Management Conference to be held on November 20, 2023, at the Barbados Hilton Resort.
During a press conference at TEN Habitat, Wildey, St Michael location, Chesney told reporters that he was concerned that as the climate crisis intensified, it would have devastating impacts on the building infrastructure in Barbados and other small island developing states if urgent action was not taken.
He highlighted the need for more sustainable practices throughout the entire building process.
“The adversities private sector and government face daily truly necessitate a transformation of our building policies, ensuring that facilities management is an integral player from the design phase, guaranteeing that final outcome is sustainably maintainable. With this, there is less disruption to financial productivity and financial drain on an already stretched operating budget,” said Chesney.
“I have been in this industry for over 25 years and I have seen the losses are significant. The value of government assets is in the $20 billions, and while I can’t give exact figures, it begs the question for our university colleagues to have an actual research on these kinds of losses, to measure every disruption in terms of loss productivity and cost . . . . What bothers me is that we cannot sustain it. Our economies are strained,” he said.
Chesney explained that a bad decision at any time of the building process, including the design, can result in poor building infrastructure.
He said some of the biggest mistakes made by many people in the region were viewing facilities management as not as important as other aspects of the operation, a lack of understanding of building maintenance, and a lack of technology use.
“We have seen government constantly relocating staff from one building to the next. We have seen new buildings being built and have to be vacated . . . . We cannot afford to build buildings and have to vacate them. It is not sustainable and our economy cannot sustain it,” Chesney contended.
Over the years, government workers have complained incessantly about “sick buildings” and environmental problems, resulting in some government departments having to relocate.
The latest spate of concerns related to some of the island’s polyclinics, resulting in Deputy General Secretary of the National Union of Public Workers (NUPW) Wayne Walrond calling on the government to invest in proper maintenance of those facilities.
Chesney said it was his wish that facilities management be woven seamlessly into every phase of the building cycle to ensure sustainability, efficiency and innovation. He said it was also critical that officials incorporate greater use of technology in building designs and maintenance.
The Fifth Sustainable Facilities Management Conference, which is being held in association with the International Facility Management Association (IFMA), Barbados Chapter, is expected to attract several private and public sector representatives and experts to examine a range of topics relating to infrastructure maintenance, energy conservation and the impacts of climate change.
Chesney said the one-day event is expected to explore “a vision for a sustainable and resilient future for the people of Barbados, the wider Caribbean and global community”.
Vice President of the IFMA Jason Martin also underscored the importance of facilities management in order to “enhance the quality of life for individuals and boost the productivity of core business operations”.
“With the theme of this conference in mind – Empowering Change, Technology, Sustainability and Leadership for a Resilient Future –, our objective is to explore innovative solutions where facility management intersects these core principles to address the most pressing issues of our time,” said Martin.
