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Imported building materials jump to US$115M
Over the last 16 years, Guyana has experienced a startling increase in the importation of building materials. This is according to General Manager of Barama Company Limited, Mohindra Chand.
This graph shows the rate at which Guyana has been importing building materials from 1999 to 2015. The money on the left hand side of the graph is to be read in the millions.
He recently made this point during the recent Private Sector Commission’s (PSC) inaugural Business Summit.
In his presentation, Chand noted that in 1999, Guyana’s importation bill for building materials was around US$28M. Since that time, the cost has been rising exponentially. Chand said that in 2014 alone, the importation bill for building materials skyrocketed to over US$115M.
Chand told Kaieteur News that this state of affairs requires a serious intervention. He noted that the increase in the importation of products is also hampering local businesses which produce many of the products that are also of a high quality.
Chand added, “It is seriously counterproductive since we have many of the products here that can replace some of these imports. We need to move in the direction of utilising what we already manufacture here.”
The longstanding member of the forestry sector also made some recommendations regarding what is needed to get the sector back on track.
He recommended that there be the establishment of a national forest advisory committee which he said should not have more than 13 members.
Chand said, “I would recommend that there be the review of the national forest policy and plan, the establishment of a national protocol for policy reviews and implementation, and a government service charter and engagement protocol. All of this can be done in the first year to enhance industry collaboration and facilitation.”
The General Manager of Barama also stated that within a two to three year period, he would recommend the decentralisation of key services in the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC).
He said that these would include renewals, inspections and quotas/tags.
He also called for the establishment of marketing and promotion initiatives under the economic diplomacy policy. (KIANA WILBURG)
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