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Guyana never lodged a formal complaint about cement quality-TCL
The Computer controlled monitoring and modification department of Trinidad Cement Company Limited.
General Manager of the Trinidadian Cement Company, Satnarine Bashew, is adamant that there must be a level playing field in the region in the field of competition.
According to Bashew, the cement group could compete in the region without the Common External Tarrif (CET) once there is a level playing field. It is not easy when persons try to dump inferior cement in the region, he said.
He noted that the cement company has had to fight at least five cases against anti-dumping. “This tells you that the playing field is not level at all. It is not just about wanting protection; it is about establishing a level playing field that everyone could compete in.”
He also cited the example of Argos Cement Company out of Colombia that operates in a free zone in that it does not pay duties and taxes.
He queried, “How could a regional company compete with that cement if there was no CET?”
Bashew added that there are companies that are heavily subsidized, a feature that would make for unfair competition.
Bashew also questioned the move by President Bharrat Jagdeo pointing to the fact that with the CET off of Cement import from outside of the region then much needed foreign exchange will be leaving that country.
General Manager of the Trinidad Cement Company, Satnarine Bashew
The sentiment was made in the context of the global financial crisis that is yet to bottom out, according to Bashew, who noted that all of the countries in the region are losing foreign exchange which is detrimental to the region.
Speaking of the issue of quality of cement supplied by the company, he said that Guyana has never lodged a formal complaint with the company. This issue became known through media reports.
Bashew noted that the only other report in recent times was in Grenada but that was found not to be a fault of the cement company. Rather, it was the user of the product and as such Trinidad Cement launched an edification programme in that country much like that in Guyana namely the cement tent.
According to the company officials, it was only on the previous day prior to the visit to the plant that the company was given a clean bill of health by independent inspectors.
He again reiterated what his Barbadian counterpart said about the impossibility of lumpy cement being shipped to Guyana, adding that when the cement arrived in Guyana it is stored in a water proof silo.
He did point out, however, that after the cement is bagged and shipped from that facility persons have to be careful how they store the cement given that water is a key element to making concrete.
The Company’s General Manager explained that the US$11M bagging plant in Guyana is testimony to their commitment to the Guyana market, explaining that it was a critical market that the company intends to secure.
He noted that with the global recession, markets around the region have shrunk and the company is in a position to adequately supply cement even with a step incline in demand.
He explained that even in light of the fact that Barbados and the other plants were producing less than their full capacity, this was reminiscent of what was happening at all plants.
According to the company’s general manager, the current CARICOM demand was just about 2.2 million tonnes while the Trinidad facility could produce some 3.4 million tonnes.
He noted that the situation was such a dire one that the company at that Claxton Bay plant had to take offline a significant portion of their production capability.
He noted too that with the waiver that was instituted in Guyana it significantly eroded the TCL market in Guyana.
Commenting on President Jagdeo’s assertion that the TCL group was seeking to ensure it maintained a monopoly on the cement market, Bashew said that it was far from the truth, rather it only intended to be the preferred supplier in the face of a fairly competed industry.
As it relates to the Caribbean Court of Justice’s ruling that Guyana pay two-thirds of the court cost incurred by the TCL group in its fight against the waiver of the CET to import cement extra regionally, he said that this country is yet to make good on that obligation.
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