Contractors welcome Newmarket announcement

Contractors welcome Newmarket announcement

The New Zealand Contractors’ Federation has hailed swift progress on the Newmarket Viaduct project as a testament to the success of the Government’s infrastructure funding initiatives.

The NZ Transport Agency announced today that the southern half of the viaduct replacement project will be completed in September, six months ahead of schedule.

Federation Chief Executive Jeremy Sole said that the Government’s decision to accelerate state highway projects had provided major benefits for both the public and the civil construction industry, helping companies to maintain skilled staff throughout the recession.

“There was great enthusiasm in the industry when the infrastructure funding initiatives were first outlined,” said Mr Sole. “The subsequent steady stream of projects and funding announcements have turned that enthusiasm into a high level of confidence in an industry that would otherwise be focusing on reduction of capacity.”

Mr Sole said that, without the Government initiatives, it was unlikely that New Zealand would have been able to retain the skills base and ability to deliver major infrastructure projects during the post recession recovery period.

“That is the period when the seeds of the next ten years of economic growth are sewn and maintaining a skilled, healthy civil construction industry is crucial to that.

“Nationally these projects are targeted at improving productivity which will deliver benefits to the NZ economy and everyone operating within it.”

ENDS

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