“Foreign companies eating up everything” …local truck operators protest ‘unfair competition’

May 07, 2026 News

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– say foreigners taking over

(Kaieteur News) – More than a dozen truck drivers and owners staged a protest on Wednesday at the roundabout of the Bharrat Jagdeo Demerara River Bridge calling for an even playing field in the trucking sector.

They told Kaieteur News that foreign companies, especially Chinese, are “eating-up everything” leaving them without work and forcing them into economic hardships.

The local truckers are alleging that government incentives granted to the foreigners such as duty-free concessions are giving them an unfair advantage in the local market.

One of the affected truck owners, S. Ahmed said some of these foreign companies entering Guyana to do road works but are also using their trucks to private work.

“…Killing the market price for us, as for instance, they going till to Ogle where the price is like $60,000 per a load of sand, they carrying it for 50,000, some doing it for $45,000”, Ahmed told the press.

Ahmed continued, “I have truck parked for months now can’t get no work, right is unfair for we as Guyanese to face this here from the Chinese.”

He contested that the Chinese companies don’t have to do anything.

“They getting duty free, they get sand pit, they getting their own source of fuel, right, we out here ga battle it look the other day fuel raise.” Ahmed said while adding, “Foreigners coming and benefit more than us which is not supposed to be happening, you understand, so that’s our major concern why we out here today (Wednesday) from my perspective.

Another affected trucker, Anil said, “From since January I am home; I am not getting no work.”

He while work comes sometimes, it is decreasing rapidly. “The Chinese them are dominating the trucking industry because they have more than one trucking service and I was made to understand that they have their own sandpit and so on”, he disclosed.

Anil added, “A mean they come and take over our local truckers work and if so be the case, then the local truckers them will have to punish.”

The truckers who protested on Wednesday said they have now come to publicly voice their concerns because it is “getting more and more difficult for them”.

“Everybody just losing but the Chinese just gaining all the time” were the words of another trucker on the protest line.

“We losing a lot, the fuel is expensive, everything expensive,” he said while adding “It’s almost two weeks now I am not working, progress is not doing, we just losing all the time.”

According to the trucker, his boss’ trucks are parked while the “Chinese eating everything.”

“I glad if the government or somebody could come out and help us, because we are losing a lot so we pleading for help because this nonsense ga stop.”

Meanwhile political figures visited the truckers on the protest line.

Among them were leader of the Vigilant Political Action Committee (VPAC) Guyana, Dorwain Bess and Opposition Leader, Azruddin Mohamed.

The opposition leader, criticised the government for being too “cozy” with the foreigners and called for an immediate intervention.

This is not the first time truckers have been on the protest line due to an uneven playing field in the trucking industry.

In May last year, truck drivers staged two days of protests in the mining town of Linden, Region Ten over an alleged foreign takeover of the trucking and businesses in Guyana and locals being unable to get ‘a bite’.

In response to that protest action, Minister of Public Works, Juan Edghill assured that Chinese are not getting any duty-free concessions for their trucks.

“The only thing that was duty-free was the mill which is operating inside the quarry (Chinese-owned quarry), so if the Chinese bought trucks and are operating it, they are buying it just like you,” he had told the truckers.

He had promised that the government will intervene to stop local truckers from being side-lined when it comes to lifting stones from a Chinese owned quarry at Arisaru Mountain, Region Ten – an issue that local truckers had raised with Kaieteur News back in February 2025.

Despite the minister’s assurances, the local truck drivers were dissatisfied and called on the government to clamp down on the number of trucks, which the Chinese are allowed to import.

One driver had said, “Then tomorrow morning, the Chinese wake-up and bring in 200 trucks, all a we… wha’ we doing with we truck? and 200 drivers, wha’ we doing with we truck?”

The minister had acknowledged that there is competition on the market over rates but declined to comment further noting that “Guyana is open for business”.

Notwithstanding, he assured that “the government will not sit idly by and allow Guyanese to be taken advantage of, even in that open environment.

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• Chinese, Demerara River Bridge, truck drivers, trucking sector, unfair competition

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