1.   Most big utilities have in-house construction and engineering divisions to handle many of these tasks, farming out the rest to so-called infrastructure contractors.

2.   So a big part of the acquisition trend is that utilities are bringing more of this kind of work in-house by buying infrastructure contractors.

3.   They underestimated traffic on the toll roads, as well as construction costs, leaving a trail of financial problems for both the government and infrastructure contractors.

4.   A PROPOSAL to compel infrastructure contractors to employ only local workers has been described by the Financial Secretary as protectionism.