Demand spike gets quarry association all worried
KUCHING: Members of Sarawak Quarry Association ( SQA) are concerned that they are unable to meet the huge spike in demand for mega projects such as the Pan Borneo Highway, despite the high rock reserves in Sarawak.
“Quarry operators also encountered slow payments from the mega projects and are facing cash flow problems. Thus, they have to borrow from the banks heavily to support their operations,” said SQA in a statement.
As such, SQA members are requesting the government to consider implementing other mega projects, such as the coastal road and second trunk road developments, in stages to avoid a repeat of supply shortage of stone aggregates.
In addition, they also request the government to consider increasing the quarry licensing term to a minimum of 20 years for better operations and planning.
Issues related to mega projects were among those raised and discussed at SQA’s recent annual general meeting.
According to SQA, members need to invest heavily in both the quarry plant and machinery in order to increase the capacity of production.
However, this is hampered by the short quarry licensing period, which has rendered them unable to secure bank loans/facilities to finance the investment for expansion.
SQA also said quarry operators were cautious to invest more due to the high volume of supply for only a very short period of time, such a period of two to three years for the Pan Borneo Highway project.
“This is only for short-term supply and no continuity in the demand,” it added.
SQA also mentioned the mismatch of supply due to the locality of quarries, which are mainly in the southern and northern regions, which has worsened the supply shortage in some areas, especially in the central region.