Last week during the programme ‘Business Position’ on the radio station ‘Žinių Radijas’, the head of the construction company ‘Hanner’ Arvydas Avulis complimented the government’s plans to accelerate the renovation of blocks of flats, but noted that when the process gains momentum they will have to deal with a lack of construction workers, www.delfi.lt reports.
Last week during the programme ‘Business Position’ on the radio station ‘Žinių Radijas’, the head of the construction company ‘Hanner’ Arvydas Avulis complimented the government’s plans to accelerate the renovation of blocks of flats, but noted that when the process gains momentum they will have to deal with a lack of construction workers, www.delfi.lt reports.
“First of all, it will be very difficult to control the quality of work and to manage the terms of the projects. I do not think that today there are enough workers in Lithuania to complete such a big renovation – more than 500 houses. Surely, this question will have to be solved sooner or later. If everything goes as planned, there will be a huge demand in construction workers,” said A. Avulis.
According to Avulis, some construction workers have departed for Belarus, Norway and other countries, so the task of construction company managers is to return their staff.
He also encouraged the government to urgently change the current practice of hiring the cheapest contractors for construction projects and to provide an incentive for Lithuanian workers to return from abroad.
“It had to be changed many years ago, and now, in fact, we are responsible for putting ourselves in this bad position. We chose the cheapest suppliers and contractors, and then we are surprised when the work was done in a poor quality. There are no miracles in life. If you buy the cheapest product, you should not expect good quality,” continued Avulis.
“I think that if the Law on Public Tenders is to be changed soon and a formula, stating some reliability guarantees, is invented, then the situation in the construction sector will significantly change. And now it is too optimistic to think that Lithuanian workers from Belarus, Norway and other countries will come back as we do not have anything to offer them,” said A. Avulis to ‘Žinių Radijas’.
