Minister urges locals to ramp up production as oil leads to construction boom

Jul 07, 2021 News

Kaieteur News – A boom in construction has been brought on by the oil-driven growth of Guyana’s economy, but the country is struggling to meet the boom’s demands on its own. Despite being a resource-rich country, Guyana has been importing hundreds of thousands of tonnes of construction material every year.

Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat, at the GGMC’s Quarry Seminar, Regency Suites and Hotel.

Even then, the supply is still not enough. There has been uproar over the steep prices of building materials. But the Government is looking to turn the tide.
Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat, sounded the alarm yesterday on operators and suppliers to boost production of construction materials, during a seminar at the Regency Suites and Hotel. It was held by the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC), to encourage effective management of quarriable resources.
“It is quite embarrassing that we are a country with so many natural resources, more so in the quarrying, mining side,” Bharrat said, “and for the last couple of years, we have been importing over 200,000 tonnes of aggregates every single year.”
He revealed that as recent as last year, the demand for aggregate was about 900,000 tonnes, but local supply only met about 650,000 tonnes.
When the new government came in, it called on the eight quarry operators to boost their production, Bharrat revealed. He said the Government even recently issued several quarry licences and is reviewing documents with the aim of issuing more licences.
By facilitating the opening of new quarry operations, and by expanding existing operations, the Government is hoping to ramp up employment and business opportunities for Guyanese, who are expected to supply products at reasonable prices, in return, for the average Guyanese to benefit from.
If this fails, the government will have to continue to import aggregates in line with growing demand, but it prefers not to move foreign currency out of Guyana.
“With our plan, with our vision to modernise and to transform our economy and to build new highways, and with oil and gas bringing to Guyana so many investments, we realise that the demand for building materials would increase tremendously.”
He said that this oil-producing nation has embarked on a transformation phase for the next 5-10 years.
A series of hotels are expected to be built over the next few years as well, with the sod turned for Courtyard by Marriott in the compound of the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) over the weekend.
The Government has announced a series of road projects. The contract signing for the Linden to Mabura road, according to Bharrat, is expected in a matter of months.
The Minister said the Government has already issued close to 5,000 new house lots since it took office, as part of its plan to issue 50,000 lots by 2025.
“That by itself will create a significant demand for building materials,” Bharrat said.
“How I see it, the demand will probably reach 1.5 M tonnes in another year or two.”
During an interview with the Guyanese Critic on June 14, Finance Minister, Dr. Ashni Singh, said that Government has been trying to address the high cost of construction material, from multiple channels. The Government removed taxes from most construction materials, but other factors are outside the Government’s control.
“There were and are some issues with the global marketplace in relation to the cost of steel and the cost of shipping. But those, we expect, are transitory factors,” Dr. Singh said. “At some point in time, the market will regulate itself.”
He added that the Government is hoping that increased production from and competition among locals will play a part in driving down prices.
More than a week earlier, on June 5, President, Dr. Irfaan Ali, had spoken about the construction boom and how the Government was aware of efforts to open as many as 20 large concrete plants. The President questioned why it cannot be Guyanese taking the initiative to meet the demand.
“What hampers the local chambers of commerce in Region Three to bring together their business leaders and say let’s form a company and let’s build a concrete plant in Region Three?” Dr. Ali said.
He urged locals to move away from the individual approach to business, and to adopt a collective approach, in concert with those they have tended to treat as competitors.
“The scale of development, the scale of transformation, the scale of investment is completely different from what we’re accustomed to,” the President had said. “That is why we have to build the model, a business model that speaks to that scale…”

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