5000 Tonnes of Cement to Arrive in the Island from Cuba Within Two Weeks
KINGSTON(JIS)
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
Minister of Industry, Commerce and Investment, Karl Samuda, has said
that some 5000 tonnes of cement should arrive in the island from Cuba
within the next two weeks, to ease the current shortage.
A team consisting of representatives from the Ministry, the Airports
Authority of Jamaica and the Port Authority of Jamaica visited Cuba on
Thursday (Sept. 27) to finalize arrangements for the importation of some
40,000 tonnes of cement, which will be arriving into the island on a
phased basis.
Addressing journalists at today's (Oct. 2) post-Cabinet press briefing
at Jamaica House, Mr. Samuda informed that the Port Authority of Jamaica
is now in the process of finalizing arrangements to transport the cement.
He noted that a regular supply of 5000 tonnes of cement should be
arriving from Cuba each month "so we can be assured that we will be
receiving from the Government of Cuba, 40,000 tonnes of cement in
shipments of 5000 per month".
Additionally, the Industry Minister said that Caribbean Cement Company
Limited (CCCL), the sole manufacturer of the product in Jamaica, has
made arrangements to import some 9000 tonnes of cement from Columbia and
a further 9000 tonnes from the Dominican Republic.
He told journalists that in the event that CCCL obtains the cement from
Columbia and the Dominican Republic, and the government secures
additional supplies from private importers, then there should be an
excess of the commodity on the local market by year end.
This, Mr. Samuda said would enable the company to look seriously at
exporting cement to other countries. "In order to facilitate all of
this, we will enable Carib Cement to use their port in Rockfort to
import and export cement, with the provision that adequate safeguards,
with respect to safety and the integrity of the shipment, is
maintained," he said.
In this regard, Mr. Samuda informed that he has written to the Minister
of National Security, Derrick Smith, requesting that the shipments of
cement leaving and arriving in the island be monitored, to ensure that
"not only is Jamaica protected, but that we fulfill our obligations with
respect to our regional partners in ensuring that there is no
contamination of shipments or that any dangerous equipment or substance
leaves our shores".
The demand for cement between now and year end is estimated at 245,000
tonnes.
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