THERE is a shortage of three key components of the construction industry.

This includes concrete blocks, roofing iron and timber.

This was highlighted by the Attorney-General and Minister for Economy, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, at the Westpac Banking Corporation and Vodafone 2016 Chartered Practising Accountants (CPA) Congress yesterday.

“Prior to Severe Tropical Cyclone Winston, there was a huge demand for building material but, of course, after cyclone Winston, there was a shortage of three key components such as concrete blocks, roofing iron and timber,” he said.

As the result, he said, there were only partial deliveries of building materials under the Government’s Help for Homes initiative.

“Our team at the Ministry of Economy is constantly liaising with hardware companies and getting updates on the percentage of deliveries.”

The A-G said the hardware companies that provided concrete blocks, roofing iron and timber had issues with delivery primarily because of the lack of supply.

“In the Fijian market, there is also the lack of timber.

“A lot of companies source timber from New Zealand and New Zealand is also unable to keep up with the demand that it has.”

The Help for Homes initiative is Government’s initiative to provide assistance to people whose homes had been damaged by Severe TC Winston in February, especially those from low-income families.

“Most people in Fiji don’t have insurance, in particular, those in the rural areas. So Government took it upon itself to provide a form of assistance.

“There is no legal obligation to do so but Government decided that it should, given the devastation by TC Winston.

“So $88 million worth of MPAiSA cards were given, which requires them to redeem those cards in hardware stores,” Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said.

The Attorney-General said hardware stores had been selected through processes that had been advertised.