-ministry says drop in production hampering development
The Ministry of Natural Resources called on quarry suppliers to increase their output as there has been a significant drop in production compared with last year, while there are currently several ongoing development projects.
Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment Robert Persaud told suppliers that in the light of this the ministry will review production from each company to inform its decisions regarding supply as other companies are interested in starting their operations.
Last year, only 535,000 tonnes of stone were produced and to date there has been a significant drop in output. A Government Information Agency (GINA) report quoted the minister as saying that only 383,000 tonnes of quarry products has been produced compared with the same period last year. Further, he said government has come up with a number of measures that can be put in place to boost supply. In response, some stakeholders said that they have not been able to produce as they should because of ongoing issues with the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) and Guyana Geology and Mines Commission, regarding clearing their equipment and spare parts in a timely manner. In one instance, a supplier said that the processing of documents through GRA to clear spare parts to refurbish a crusher took him about three weeks.
The minister then encouraged suppliers to keep some spares on hand and also to inform the ministry about these issues as they come up. He also informed the meeting that the ministry is currently developing a tracking system with the GRA so that it could request an audit about the status of the equipment and can also, if necessary ask that the process be speeded up.
Some suppliers were also irked that government has not been notifying them early about projects and this put a strain on them to make the necessary materials available. According to GINA, the minister then informed the group to familiarise themselves with the National Budget so they will be aware of projects to be executed. “You know what government will do when you check the budget because we have a significant amount of projects waiting to be executed so when you look at that you will see the plans and have an idea,” he explained.
Concerns were also raised about transportation especially in the dry season. A representative of BK International said a ship had been loaded some time ago and that it was only able to set sail on Friday morning because of a drop in the water level.
