They indicated that Dominicans tend to reject heavy construction jobs because of the physical effort they require.
BÁVARO-PUNTA CANA. – Faced with the shortage of Haitian labor in the country, executives from Dirava Construcciones and Inversiones Canabav stated that they have had to adapt to the new landscape of the sector through various strategies.
When interviewed by El Inmobiliario , the executives indicated that, in general terms, the construction sector in the East Zone has slowed down due to "a problem of basic labor ," a situation that has mainly impacted the initial phases of the projects.
“We had to adapt to the market and find solutions. We’ve had to rely on machinery to do the work of manual labor, and we’ve had to rely on longer shifts for the people who are working,” explained José Rafael Abreu of Dirava Construcciones.
They stated that the greatest difficulty arises in the gray construction stage , where labor is required for tasks such as excavation, block placement, and mixture preparation.
This type of work, 90% of which is done by Haitians , according to what they said, has been affected by immigration restrictions and the regularization processes that are carried out in the Dominican Republic.
However, they pointed out that the termination process — which is more specialized — has not suffered the same impact within this sector.
In these tasks, such as flooring, plumbing and electrical work, both skilled Haitians and a significant number of Dominican workers participate, which has allowed for greater stability in that phase of construction.
Dominican versus Haitian labor
Representatives of the development company debunked the myth that Haitian labor is cheaper than Dominican labor, emphatically stating that "it has never been cheaper .
“They really are paid the same. The thing is, Haitians are even more problematic and more demanding. If you're one day late with your payment, a Haitian will stage a protest. They'll vandalize your work and break things. And that causes a constitutional uprising,” they said.
On the other hand, they indicated that Dominicans tend to reject manual labor jobs due to the physical effort they require.
“In the area there is a situation that is being resolved very slowly because more Dominican construction is appearing and in the end they are paid the same, but not as rustic as what the Haitians do, basically,” they explained.
As a business group, they stated that the State must get involved in the search for solutions to the labor crisis affecting the construction sector, considering that it is a general problem that impacts many developers.
“We are waiting for some Haitians who had permits to renew them. But the biggest problem we have is that the Haitians themselves don't have documentation. So, since their consulates don't give them documents, there's no way to request a work permit from them because they don't have identification,” they explained.
During his speech, Jordi Díaz explained that, in the particular case of Dirava and Canabav, they have managed to mitigate the impact thanks to a construction model based on formwork , a system different from the traditional one.
“Our process is industrial. The molding process is done by a very small team of people who remain permanently on-site; it doesn't change. It's done with Dominican machinery and personnel. So we don't have that bottleneck that another construction company using more traditional methods might have,” Juan Vargas explained.
