Wood industry in troubled waters
Published:Thursday | September 8, 2011 | 12:00 AM
- Furniture-manufacturing sector battles hard times and imports
Barrington Flemming, Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
The local wood and furniture-manufacturing sector is calling for the Government to come to its rescue as more than 100 operators have been forced to close their doors in the past four years.
President of the Wood Products and Furniture Manufacturing Association, Mortimer McPherson, said the industry was reeling from a myriad of factors, chief among them being the mass importation of furniture into the island.
McPherson noted that in 2008, some US$48 million (more than J$4 billion) worth of furniture was imported into the island, which dealt a major blow to the local industry.
Revisit import policy
"The situation has become so critical that a number of our operators have had to close their doors and those who have not closed their doors yet have had to lay off workers. The situation has become so chronic that we are basically hand to mouth," he told The Gleaner.
McPherson said the industry players were calling for the Government to immediately revisit the policy on the importation of furniture as a first step to rescuing the sector.
"We have found that government policies, coupled with lending agencies, have been stifling the industry. The banking sector has not been friendly to small and medium-size businesses. They could structure the loans to require non-traditional collateral, which could include intellectual property."
The Wood Products and Furniture Manufacturing Association president said the interest rates were too restrictive, charging that a weekly one per cent payment would mean 52 per cent, and that would be too much for any business to pay and survive.
According to McPherson, the high-school system has been sorely neglected with a number of institutions possessing equipment but not offering courses. Others, he said, train young boys who are barely able to make picture frames.
Tony Barton of Barton's Design in St Mary also argued that financial institutions are not friendly towards the industry, which put the sector at risk of stagnation as many operators are not able to upgrade their machinery to compete effectively in the marketplace.
Poor training
"The operators have to function with substandard equipment when they need to operate modern factories with the latest equipment. Financial help has been advertised but very often it is not accessible to members of the industry," he explained.
Barton also expressed his dissatisfaction with the trainees who are graduating from the HEART Trust/NTA woodwork programme.
"Training is a big problem. HEART has the mandate but the agency has focused mainly on carpentry, with the few graduates that come out doing so as cabinetmakers who are ill-trained at best."
McPherson said that in a move to address the shortcomings, the association was in the process of launching the artisan institute in Kingston to train and fit people for the industry. He also indicated that the plan would be to have other regional institutes in western and central Jamaica.
"So while we will launch the artisan school, we will also be introducing a national wood award for schools to compete by designing and making wooden items which would be judged by the experts in the industry and the appropriate awards given," McPherson concluded.