Barama Company Limited (BCL) has begun to import plywood, “to fill the supply gap” in the local market after its plywood factory experienced a boiler explosion two months ago.
In a release on Saturday, the company noted that it has decided to import plywood after its factory at Land of Canaan on the East Bank of Demerara was crippled following the explosion. The incident would have affected supplies to the local market.
The company noted that the sheets continue to be in high demand because of their versatility; competitive pricing and the Government of Guyana’s low cost housing ownership drive. Approximately 1,016 cubic meters (562) crates of plywood arrived at the Barama Jetty on Saturday and is expected to meet local demand for at lease two months.
BCL noted that it is making every effort to supply plywood at a lower price to local distributers, and has applied to the authorities to be exempted from import duty and Value -Added Tax (VAT) in order to minimize cost.
BCL noted that several factors have adversely affected the final price, including high import prices, import duties, freight and handling cost.
The company’s CEO Clement Ooi stated, ”The Company’s effort in importing plywood is in line with our immediate plans to mitigate the shortage in plywood supply. As communicated to the Government on 8 November, we are concentrating our efforts to implement a medium –term plan to commence plywood manufacturing by end of June 2011, with the aim of restoring our plywood production capacity to normal levels by end of December 2011’.
Citing increased demand resulting in the steep price increases for local plywood BCL made an appeal to all distributers to be fair and responsible in their pricing and to avoid transfer of high costs to local consumers.
The company expressed gratitude to its stakeholders for their understanding and support and the company noted that it remains committed to restoring its plywood manufacturing facility, “in the best interest of our business and our stakeholders”.
Deputy General Manager of BCL Mohindra Chand recently stated that it is working around the clock to restore its factory in shorter timeline than was previously mentioned. The October explosion was blamed on negligent employees and some 270 employees were left without a job.
The company has since paid severance pay packages to its former employees and recently awarded them a 2 week payment based on the employee’s last salary. The Government of Guyana has since offered assistance to the former employees via the Labour Ministry by offering a 3-month stipend of $30,000 as well as training in Informa-tion Technology.
