By Joseph Allen
In a bid to ease the bottleneck in the supply of stone needed for the construction industry, a new quarrying company was declared open yesterday in Batavia, an Amerindian village in Region Seven.
EKAA HRIM Earth Resources, reported to be a US$20 million investment, had signed a 15-year lease deal with the Batavia Village Council some seven months ago. The deal between the community and EKAA HRIM Earth Resources of India was signed under the Amerindian Act and the company is being licensed to operate by the Government of Guyana. It has acquired some 1,089 acres of land, with 13 acres being used for mining while the remaining will be a buffer zone.
The company is expected to produce some 100,000 tons of stone monthly.
Those present yesterday at the official launching of the quarry included President Irfaan Ali, Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat; Minister of Public Works, Juan Edghill; Minister of Home Affairs, Robeson Benn; Minister of Amerindian Affairs, Pauline Sukhai; CEO of EKAA HRIM Earth Resources, Saju Bhaskar; and Batavia Toshao, Oren Willams; among others.
President Ali in his remarks stated that this is a good investment especially since stone quarrying remains a significant contributor to the local construction sector and given the current boom in that sector, more and more quarry ventures would be needed to cater for that demand.
He also noted that because of the shortage of stone in the construction sector, Guyana imports several million tons to satisfy existing demand and this arrangement has to change.
“We have (spent) a lot of resources over the last three years in importing quarry materials because one of the things is that, because of the demand and supply the prices went up and we had to seek to bring in imports. We have nearly a couple million tons now. And still, this is not enough to keep pace with the type of development that is taking place and this is just the initial phase of development”, he said.
The President added that more will be needed as the infrastructure development grows, so therefore, more investment of such magnitude must come onboard, as the real development will start after 2027.
He also explained that these types of investments will tie into a gas strategy, and according to the infrastructure plan, the quarrying industry is needed to make that strategy work.
“The gas strategy which we will launch, hopefully very soon, is about building a national infrastructure to support all that will come from natural gas and all of this requires quarry material. It requires a significant increase in our production and productive capacity and that is what this investment marks. It’s about increasing our productive capacity.”
Ali also urged EKAA HRIM Earth Resources to ensure it improves the lives of the residents of the community and provide further employment.
“I also want to challenge the investors to have all the heavy-duty operators for this facility trained from the village and the people of Batavia must operate the heavy-duty machines here. They have the capability and capacity. One of the things you will find in the Amerindian community is a very raw natural talent, what we have to do now is modify that talent with the type of certification and safety and all this that comes with it so that they can be seamlessly integrated in your operation and that is what we want.”
EKAA HRIM Earth Resources’ CEO meanwhile assured that the company will maintain high standards and safeguard the environment.
“We aim to set new standards in mining sustainable development, ensuring that the development practices that are aimed to pay dividends to the community around us but also safeguard our environment”, he said.
Bhaskar said that he will also ensure that the development of the people and the community is taken care of.
“This quarry will bring numerous opportunities for employment and regional infrastructure. We have undertaken this venture to safeguard high standards and the plan is not just to extract the resources from the land but give back to the land and the people of this community”, he stated.
As such, he added that the company will work to be the heart of the community’s economy.
Batavia is a village of some 600 people, however, since the company has come into the village, only 15 residents have been employed temporarily.
Additionally, a school was refurbished, among other things that have been done to support the village.
However, Toshao Williams said that while the investment is good there must be more with the inclusion of permanent working positions for the villagers.
