Ali says gov’t will work to address sand shortage in Berbice
President Irfaan Ali on Sunday said that the government will be working to address the shortage of sand in Region Six which is affecting projects.
“One of the hindrances that we are working on in this region, I want to address it very early, is the availability and price for sand”, Ali said on Sunday at the sod- turning for the New Amsterdam General Hospital.
According to Ali, with the pace of infrastructural development in the region one of the challenges posed by the growth in construction is the availability of supplies from time to time.
As such, on the matter of the sand shortage in the region, Ali pledged that for the next three to four weeks they will be working on mechanisms on how to address the issue, noting that there will be consultations with the private sector and suppliers. “Within the next three to four weeks we are going to work on some specific mechanism, just like we did for stone, when we came into government there was a big shortage, a global shortage, stone went to $15,000 per tonne”, he said.
With the intervention from the government, the price of stone dropped to between $9,000 to $10,000 per tonne, “and we have to do this for sand in this region, we have to do this for sand so the next three weeks we are working out on coming up with some innovative ideas.
“We are going to meet with the private sector, (and) the suppliers to see how we can work on deploying the assets of the government to ensure that we bring some sort of normalcy to the situation here that is driven up quickly with the expansion that is taking place”, he said.
Stabroek News was told that Ali late last year met with contractors of Region Six who were behind on projects where the issue of a shortage of some supplies was highlighted.
Contractors within the region yesterday told this newspaper that while there is a shortage of sand, there is also one brewing with stone and laterite. According to some, the delay in acquiring stone started in early December last year.
Ali on Sunday said, “We recognize the challenge that the pace of development is so intense in this region, no one would have estimated the growth of construction and the pace of development in this region to be where it is, and as a result, the demand is outstripping the supply.”
Further, he said that some suppliers believe that “now is the time to cash in” but “we will cash you out”, he warned.
He said the issue calls for a “perfect union” one in which all the stakeholders in the region recognize “where we are going now and to contribute in their small way to remove artificial escalation, and artificial escalation is where you escalate just because of demand, and to work on normalizing the cost and all the components … required for the development.”
He stressed that where the “balance” is required is where the government must play its part.
The demand for sand saw the commodity being ripped out of a burial ground in Region Five in September last year. The graves of several persons were broken up or exposed during the removal. Their families have protested. The matter is still said to be under investigation.