Transportation, maintenance costs affect quarry production

Jan 11, 2014 News

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Amidst thriving production in the quarry industry, transportation and costs for maintenance of equipment continue to plague the rate at which materials are made available on the market.
This has raised much concern in light of the fact that this state of affairs has contributed to the existence of several ‘roll over’ projects.
These ‘roll-over’ projects are worth billions of dollars and are contracts which were awarded since last year.

This issue was raised at a meeting with several representatives of the quarry industry and officials of the Ministries of Finance, Public Works, Housing and Natural Resources.
The meeting came in light of the fact that there were several concerns about the constraints that are affecting the construction industry and to determine solutions as soon as possible.
Natural Resources Minister Robert Persaud told the gathering at the boardroom of his ministry yesterday that there are concerns about the ability of the local quarry operators to satisfy the demands of the construction sector.
“The number of government projects and those from the private sector would have been affected too by the unavailability of quarry material. We have looked at some of the preliminary numbers from last year and they have pointed towards a general increase over 2012…Our aim is to ensure we have maximum output and utilization of resources made available. It pains me that we have an abundance of quarry material yet there is some level of importation and I’m not sure how you (quarry operators) view it but for me it is one of pride. We have the ability yet we have companies in the ‘ready mix business’ and they have to import as well…”
Persaud added, “The majority of roll over projects that have been awarded already include roads and this is where the concern for quarry material comes in. At the beginning of the year some companies slow down on the amount of materials they make available because they are waiting to hear about the amount of big projects first before committing to production. But we have a lot of roll over projects and availability is important.”
Following the Minister’s presentation, the floor was opened for representatives of the quarry industry to speak on the issues that have been affecting the availability of production.
One representative of a quarry operating company said, “The problem is not production. We are producing and in some cases there is even a surplus, but we have had some challenges over the past two years, most of which were of a mechanical nature. We have installed a new plant last year. But we need projections on boulders. Our issue in terms of constraints is always customs…Our investment agreement is going to come up next month and this takes three months to review and we are asking if the process could start from now so that by the time it expires we could have the new one come in.”
The representative was given the approval of the Minister on renewing the investment agreement and he was informed that information on the boulders will be acquired by the next meeting.
The Minister also noted that he will have discussions with the Guyana Revenue Authority on the issue of Customs regulations.
A representative of the construction giant, BK International also spoke to issues affecting his company. The company which is responsible for 65 percent of the quarry outputs will see its production being doubled this year.
He noted as well that the company encounters many difficulties in loading the barges because of the hollowness of the rivers. “Navigating the rivers is difficult and it is because of these the barges become hard to repair, so if we can get some assistance it would be good.”
The Minister said that Maritime agencies will get involved to alleviate the issues relating to navigating through shallow rivers.
Another representative of the quarry operation industry explained that their main problem is the Mabura Road which he described as being “ a living hell” since they can only traverse through the area with trucks. “The terrain is quite precarious and access is our main problem.”
An official from the Public Works Ministry assured that the matter will be looked at as soon as possible. The Minister then reminded that the matter requires attention and that the company itself had proposed to maintain the road since they use it frequently.
The Public Works official also noted that there is a shortage of the half inch stone and the matter is one which received a lot of complaints from contractors last year.
It was unanimously agreed among the representatives that they cannot supply accurately if they are not aware of the projections or what is the demand of the market.
One representative asserted, “We need the projections. If we know what the market needs we can gauge ourselves.”
The Minister then assured the representatives that within three weeks there will be another meeting so that the necessary information can be provided and there can be a positive way forward for the quarry industry.

 

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