Manning: Price controls for construction

Addressing the 2006 annual general meeting of the American Chamber of Commerce of Trinidad and Tobago (Amcham) at the Hilton Trinidad yesterday, Manning also said fears about the proposed aluminium complex in South Trinidad being harmful to the area’s communities were unfounded.

Explaining that a free market only benefits the consumer when there is competition in that market, the Prime Minister lamented that this was not the case in the construction industry.

While stressing that he was not referring to any specific company, Manning said “a situation where the requisite levels of competition are not there and where one company has emerged as the dominant company in a particular market” leads to profiteering and this was not something that Government was comfortable with.

Recalling that Government last week announced that it would open the domestic market to imports of steel, aggregate and cement, the Prime Minister said “it is very likely” in the short term that Government would explore the question of a price control system for the construction industry. Manning added that Government believed that both measures working simultaneously could benefit the country in the short term until the construction sector became more liberalised.

Amcham president Nicholas Galt told Newsday afterwards that he understood the rationale behind Manning’s statement since pricing of basic materials in the construction sector was “out of whack” with what was going on in the sector but “the jury was still out” on the matter. The Prime Minister criticised what he described as a campaign of misinformation about the construction of an aluminium smelter in Chatham by Alcoa and wondered why no opposition was being raised about the construction of another aluminium smelter by Alutrint in La Brea. Noting that one of Alcoa’s flagship smelters was constructed in the centre of the Brazilian rainforest, Manning said there was no evidence to indicate that modern aluminium smelting procedures were harmful in any way to the environment.

While reiterating that Government was committed to consultation on all matters of national importance, Manning said Government will forge ahead with its developmental initiatives and will not fall prey to “analysis paralysis.”

Manning said he preferred that Government be criticised for doing too much rather than doing too little and performance was the litmus test for all governments at election time.

Boasting that the national economy has been best managed under PNM administrations, Manning said TT could look forward to continued economic growth with its gross domestic product expected to reach $112 billion in 2007 and Government is aggressively pursuing its policy of economic diversification.