Cement boss: Keep tabs on local contractors

Coosal’s Managing Director, Sieunarine Persad Coosal, is readying his company for the construction boom that he predicts is coming. The current producers of pre-mix cement and of concrete blocks do not presently have the plant and other production capacity to satisfy the current and future needs of our booming construction industry, he told guests at the launch of two concrete plants. Coosal’s foray into this area of production should not undermine the revenues of their competitors, he said, as there is sufficient promise in the market for all stakeholders at present and in the future. This bold move, an investment of roughly 60 million dollars, is a natural and inevitable progression for the company, said Persad Coosal as it will allow them to develop their top notch  limestone deposits into higher value added products. Indeed, Coosal’s operates the largest privately owned quarry in TT which produces over 3,000 tonnes of limestone per day. They own a quarries at Maracas, St Joseph and a gravel plant at Tapana Valencia.

Persad Coosal described his company as “the premier road paving contractor in TT” due to quality of mixes, expert application, quick execution and minimal disruption. He applauded the government’s endeavour to achieve equity in the award of road resurfacing contracts. However, he noted that “no distinction is made and no regard is paid to the resources available to a contractor to effectively complete the contracts awarded to him on a timely basis and to produce work to the specified standard and quality.” He proposed that annual surveys through site visits should determine whether a contractor has the capability and resources to complete the relevant jobs, a procedure which would prevent the public from being “short changed.” Persad Coosal recalled that the Uriah Butler Highway was paved in 1980 by Coosal’s and has weathered the wear and tear of heavy traffic well. Present circumstances, however, required diversification into pre-mix concrete and concrete blocks and related internal expansion into civil engineering operations and property development, he said. Through the latter initiatives a substantial amount of the former products would be utilised and the only outsourced product would be cement.

It is anticipated that tax incentives for new homeowners, Vision 2020, as well as the government’s accelerated housing programme and infrastructural development programme would all contribute to a veritable boom in the industry, he continued. Also, the $60 million capital outlay was “influenced by the generous tax write offs” for the manufacturing plants and machinery which, he said, will act as catalysts for recovery of the investments. A substantial portion of the plants were fabricated locally and a laboratory was created on site to facilitate continuous testing.The concrete batching plant is fully automated and capable of producing 1000 cubic metres of concrete in an eight hour shift and the block making machinery can produce up to 30,000 blocks in the same amount of time.