Construction boom leads to

Determined to press ahead with this country’s demanding construction schedule, Government is leasing thousands of acres of land in Valencia to large and small companies for quarrying.

This was announced by Energy Minister Dr Lenny Saith at yesterday’s post-Cabinet news conference at Whitehall.

Saith said Government wanted to revitalise and stimulate the quarrying industry in the shortest possible time to alleviate the shortage of aggregate.

Saith also announced that Government decided to raise the royalty rate from $2 per cubic yard to $4 per cubic yard under these new licences.

He said the Energy Ministry would award six blocks ranging between 32 and 34 acres in Phase 5 Tapana to small businesses. The ministry had also identified a further 1,151 acres of lands for quarrying, he said. Saith stated that “within the next week or two” 860 acres would be allocated to five major producers and users of Aggregate — Readymix, Bestcrete, Home Construction, Coosal and Dipcon while a further 290 acres would be allocated to small operators.

Giving details, he said Cabinet agreed to the allocation of 245 acres to Coosal and 158 acres to Dipcon, 248 acres to Readymix and 300 acres to Bestcrete and 212 acres to Home Construction.

These awards would be for one year in the first instance, then rolled over at five-year intervals. There are several conditionalities, he said, one being that operators must restore all exhausted pits and must pay all outstanding royalties.

Saith who stressed that all the existing operators had been regularised, said Government expected to see the full effects of these allocations within six months.

He said Government expected through the combination of measures — this allocation and reduction of import duties on certain items- that prices would fall. He added that if this did not happen, Government would have to look at the question of price controls. Responding to a question, Saith said the people opposing price controls were those who had the power to bring the prices down. Noting that if prices didn’t come down it meant that “competitive forces” were not at work, Saith said, “If they bring it down, there would be no need to intervene.”

On the issue of labour, Saith said Government was adamant that before it imported any labour for the construction activity, that had to satisfy itself that no Trinidadian who wanted a job and had the capability, was denied one. Saith suggested however that imported labour would be allowed to stay beyond the construction boom since “these skills would be needed to maintain and operate the (constructed) facilities.”