Our team
Council Members
Fazir Khan
Jcc President
Fazir Khan is the Managing Director of Alpha Engineering & Design (2012) Ltd. He has over 30 years’ experience as a practicing professional Civil Engineer and Project Manager, working locally and within the Caribbean Basin. Fazir graduated from the University of the West Indies, Trinidad with a B.Sc. (Hons) in Civil Engineering. He has obtained a diploma in Management from Henley University (UK) and certificates in Project Management, from the Arthur Lok Jack Graduate School. Fazir is a certified modeler for Detention Pond Systems; Urban Storm Water Management; and Hydrological Modeling for sustainable solutions on large sites. He has a certificate in Integrated Coastal Zone Management from IHE Delft University. Apart from the Association of Professional Engineers of Trinidad and Tobago (APETT) where he was a Past President (2016/2017), he is also a registered member of the Board of Engineering of Trinidad and Tobago and the British Hydrological Society, England. Fazir also currently serves on the Industry Liaison Board of the UWI since 2017. He served as the APETT Rep on the JCC Council from 2017 to 2018 before becoming the current President.
Dr. James Armstrong
IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT
James Armstrong has been an Urban and Regional Planner for the past 47 years. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Environmental Design; a M Sc in Urban and Regional Planning and a Ph. D. in Development Planning. He spent most of his career as a Human Settlements Technical Advisor at the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements and has been in private practice since 2001. He has worked in various countries around the world providing technical advisory services in urban and regional planning and development. He was and adjunct lecturer in planning at the University of the West Indies and has been a mentor to many younger planners. He has served as an Independent Senator in the Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago. He has served as President of the Trinidad and Tobago Society of Planners and is the Immediate Past President of the Joint Consultative Council.
Ian Cox
APETT REPRESENTATIVE
Ian Cox is a practicing Civil Engineer with over 20 years of experience in the construction industry. His path has allowed him to encounter a diverse but balanced blend of private and public sector projects as both the client and service provider allowing a ground up understanding of the construction industry. This is firmly planted having begun his career as a Civil Technician at the then John Donaldson Technical Institute. Advancement came from attaining a B.Sc. (Hons) in Civil Engineering and a Post graduate Diploma in Construction Management from the University of the West Indies; these were followed later by PMP certification.
Ian is currently the Managing Director of IC Solutions Limited which is focused on niche domestic and commercial projects within the local construction sector. He is currently an executive member of the APETT council in his second term as Chair of the Civil Division and is APETT’s representative on the JCC.
Jason Baksh
TTCA REPRESENTATIVE
Jason Baksh is a seasoned project management professional bringing over fifteen years of extensive experience in the construction industry to the Council. He currently serves as the Chief Operating Officer at KCL, where he directs day-to-day administrative and operational functions, with proactive involvement in construction deliverables, procurement, and cost management across local and regional projects. Mr. Baksh possesses an expansive portfolio characterized by in-depth knowledge of construction management and FIDIC administration. His career spans both the public and private sectors, having successfully navigated complex projects locally in Trinidad and Tobago, as well as regionally in jurisdictions such as Jamaica and St. Maarten. A highly credentialed industry leader, Jason holds an MSc. in Construction Management from the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, and an MBA from the University of Bedfordshire. He is a registered Project Management Engineer with the Board of Engineering of Trinidad and Tobago. His professional qualifications further include a Professional Diploma in FIDIC Contracts, PMP Certification from the Project Management Institute (PMI), and designation as a Certified Facility Manager.
Mark J.H. Franco
TTIA REPRESENTATIVE
Mark J. H. Franco was born and raised in Trinidad and Tobago. He graduated with a Bachelor of Architecture degree from the Rhode Island School of Design (Providence, Rhode Island, U.S.A.) in 1983 and returned to Trinidad to continue being mentored by his father, Architect Hayden Franco. In 1988, Mark and Hayden established their Practice, FRANCO and FRANCO Architects Limited, and continued their work in Trinidad, extending to Guyana, Barbados, Grenada, St. Lucia and St. Kitts in all sectors of the industry, in particular residential, commercial and hospitality.
Mark continued the Practice after Hayden’s death in 1998. In the early part of this millennium he began collaborating with colleagues Colin Basso and Sean Leonard of Basso Leonard Architects Collaborative Limited on several projects. The discussions during the collaboration evolved into conversations about creating a more formal relationship and Architect Charmaine Solozano-Ward of CSW Architect Limited joined the three in the conversations. These developed into the creation of the consortium of Practices, co-rd Limited, to which all of the founding practices vested their personnel and assets. co-rd began operating formally in January 2006 as an Architectural Practice and as a service company to the founding practices. Mark is an owner and director of co-rd.
Mark is a Past-President of the Trinidad and Tobago Institute of Architects, a past Chairman of the Board of Architecture of Trinidad and Tobago, and a current elected member of the National Trust of Trinidad and Tobago’s Council. He is the TTIA’s Representative on the Joint Consultative Committee for the Construction Industry.
Ryan Darmanie
TTSP REPRESENTATIVE
Ryan Darmanie is an urban planning and urban design consultant at Darmanie Planning and Design. He has over thirteen years of experience in the public, private, multilateral and tertiary education sectors, with organizations like the Town and Country Planning Division, the National Planning Authority, the University of the West Indies and the East Port of Spain Development Company Limited. As a consultant, he has worked on local, regional and international assignments for the Inter-American Development Bank, the Housing Development Corporation, USAID and small-to-large real estate developers. His area of focus lies at the intersection of land development regulations, urban and economic revitalization and walkable urban development. Ryan is a strong advocate for sustainable, pedestrian-oriented and climate-sensitive urban planning and design, and has promoted these principles through his work as a consultant, a lecturer, an Executive Member of the Trinidad and Tobago Society of Planners (TTSP), and a columnist with the Trinidad and Tobago Newsday. Through his work in project conceptualization, site planning and development approval facilitation, he has gained valuable insights into the entire construction permitting process. Ryan holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Computer Science from Colgate University and a Master of City and Regional Planning degree from Rutgers University. He currently serves as the Vice President of the Trinidad and Tobago Society of Planners.
Emile Peter Elias
JCC CO-FOUNDER AND PAST PRESIDENT
Emile Peter Elias founded Emile Elias and Company Limited in July 1965, then acquired or founded additional companies. He serves as Executive Chairman in all Companies in the Group.
Mr Elias co-founded the JCC in 1978 and served on the Council representing the Trinidad and Tobago Contractors Association for many years. He continues to sit at the JCC as a Founder.
Mr Elias co-founded the Trinidad and Tobago Contractors Association in 1968 and served as President for three terms, retiring as President in April 1998.
Winston Riley
JCC CO-FOUNDER AND PAST PRESIDENT
Winston Riley is a Professional Engineer with over fifty (50) years experience in Trinidad and Tobago and the wider Caribbean. Mr Riley is a Past President of the Trinidad and Tobago Contractors Association, the Association of Professional Engineers of Trinidad and Tobago and the Joint Consultative Council for the Construction Industry of Trinidad and Tobago (JCC). Mr Riley has demonstrated a long-standing commitment to the development of the Construction industry in Trinidad and Tobago, as President of APETT, where he initiated and managed the first Caribbean Housing Conference. He also served on several Cabinet Appointed Committees in the industry. His last serving was as a member of the Cabinet Appointed Committees on Procurement and Full Employment in the Construction Sector. Mr Riley served as president of the JCC for ten (10) years. During his tenure, he prepared and presented the industry’s submissions at the Commissions of Inquiry into the Piarco Airport Construction project and the Construction Sector (UFF Commission). Mr Riley through the JCC has advocated relentlessly for the reform of the public procurement processes and practices. He is currently the Chairman of the Private Sector Civil Society Group for public procurement that has successfully campaigned for the introduction of procurement legislation.