In an effort to add jobs and help the struggling construction industry, the state of Hawaii's senate leaders are suggesting spending as much as $500 million of bond-financed construction project around the islands. According to the plan, no major new construction will be done, but rather smaller repair and maintenance projects on public schools, hospitals and state buildings would be accomplished. Increasing the energy efficiency of state buildings would also be a priority under the proposal.
According to Ron Taketa, the executive secretary and treasurer of the Hawaii Regional Council of Carpenters, almost half of the unions 6,500 workers are currently unemployed. Taketa stated, "I think that's an important part of trying to kick-start the economy again. When you have a slowdown like now and private investments are down, we really count on government to try and pick up some of the slack, to try and keep people working."
Executive director of the University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization (UHERO) Carl Bonham agrees that public construction can help stabilize the construction industry. Bonham stated, "We have under-spent on infrastructure, just like the rest of the country, for decades and decades. And so there's things that need to be done. You need your roads fixed. You need your schools not to be falling apart. So it's not a real tough decision, and at the moment we still have very aggressively low interest rates."
Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser, 1-9-2012, www.staradvertiser.com Posted by Jeff Uyemura-Reyes, Broker-in-Charge, Realtor Global Executive Realty, LLC www.myhawaiihomesearch.com www.myhawaiicondo.com www.myhawaiidreamhome.com
