Govt calls on quarry operators to increase production

– as massive infrastructural development projected in coming years

Natural Resources Minister, Vickram Bharrat has called on local quarry operators to increase their production since the demand for aggregates will rise as Guyana foresee massive infrastructural development over the next few years.
He made these comments at a seminar organised by the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) on Tuesday while noting that the demand for aggregates is set to surpass one million tonnes within the next year. On this note he, however, pointed out that production in Guyana is just about 650,000 tonnes.
He further highlighted that as of 2020, Guyana’s demand for aggregates was almost 900,000 tonnes.

Identifying this shortfall, the Minister posited that the Government has reached out to operators to boost their production in order to fulfil the local demand.
“With the new developmental project, the demand for stone will only escalate. How I see it, the demand will probably reach 1.5 million tonnes in another year or two and we’re still producing at nearly 650,000. We recognise that there is a significant shortfall and we recognise that we need to boost production in this sector and we would have called on eight quarry operators with existing licence when we took over to boost production,” the Minister noted.
He told the participants that the Government is on a mission to transform the country’s economy, but Guyanese must be able to capitalise on the local investments. He clarified that with a large import bill for this resource, opportunities for locals to capitalise on are lost.
“We as a Government would have recognised that there was a significant shortfall in the production of aggregates and with our plan and vision to transform and modernise our economy, build new highways and oil and gas bringing into Guyana so much investments, we realise that the demand for building materials would increase tremendously.
“It is quite embarrassing that we’re quite a country with so many natural resources, more so in the quarrying mining side and in the last couple of years, we have been importing over 200,000 tonnes of aggregates every year since. Importing stones or aggregates over the last five years represents a loss in opportunity for you. It represents a loss in opportunity for Guyanese businesses. It represents a loss in revenue for our country,” he told operators.
With the expected “transformational phase” over the next decade, the Natural Resources Minister said the attention and investments which the country will attract is unprecedented. However, keeping the traditional sectors alive is on Government’s agenda.
“Every single day, we have investors coming to Guyana, coming to our shores, wanting to invest in Guyana. We value our local investors. Our local investors must play a meaningful role in the development of our country. Guyana is an oil producing nation. There will be many opportunities but as a Government, we are committed to ensuring that we develop every single sector, especially the traditional and non-traditional sectors that have kept our country and economy going over a number of years,” he outlined.