Tyrone Reid, Staff Reporter
AFTER A major meeting with key stakeholders in the construction sector, the Government decided to temporarily waive the remaining 15 per cent tariff imposed on imported cement.
The decision comes on the heels of a decision in March that saw the import tariff adjusted downwards by the Government from 40 per cent to 15 per cent.
However, the major industry players, including the Incorporated Master-builders' Association of Jamaica (IMAJ), the Hardware Merchants' Association (HMA) and potential importers of the product, were agitating for the removal of the remaining 15 per cent.
Those calls were momentarily appeased yesterday after Phillip Paulwell, Minister of Industry, Technology, Energy and Commerce (MITEC), made the announcement after an early-morning meeting with representatives from the IMAJ, HMA, Trinidad Cement Limited (TCL), Caribbean Cement Company Limited (CCCL) and other major players.
The minister said the decision, which is the Government's latest move to resuscitate the cement-starved industry, was taken to meet the current shortfall in the construction sector and "to ensure a stable price to the sector, as regional shortages have created a spike in the spot market price of the product."
Errol Salkey, chairman of the HMA, was satisfied with the Government's decision to act on their proposal. He also revealed that the announced time frame would be reviewed at specific intervals. "It is not cast in stone," he said.
Mr. Paulwell revealed that Dr. Omar Davies, Minister of Finance and Planning, had agreed in principle to the waiving of the tariff.
DISCRETIONARY PROCESS
He said the waiver would be awarded on a case-by-case basis for specific, time-bound, confirmed orders of cement. He also urged importers to seize the opportunity by securing supplies from sources in close proximity.
In the interim, Raymond Cooper, vice-president of the IMAJ, said thousands of workers are still without work, while the earning power of thousands more have been eroded. Mr. Cooper told The Gleaner that of the more than 100,000 persons employed within the sector, some 30,000 workers are temporarily laid off, while some 25,000 are suffering from reduced income.
Michael Archer, president of the IMAJ, said that it was the consensus of the meeting that the cement crisis would not be mitigated in the short term.
"The outcome (of the meeting) is that the crisis won't ease anytime soon. We need around 40,000 to 60,000 tonnes to stabilise the market ..." said Mr. Archer.
The minister is scheduled to meet with industry players every Monday morning until some level of normality is restored to the sector.
Other outcomes from the meeting:
Current shortfall in industry has been placed at 100,000 tonnes.
The meeting received a report from the chief technical director in the Ministry of Information and Development regarding supplies of the product from Cuba. He confirmed that some 72,000 tonnes will be delivered over the period, June to August and that shipping logistics were being finalised.
Mainland International committed to the importation of 40,000 tonnes, in bags, by mid-June, while Caribbean Cement Company also reported that it would seek to maintain production levels of 75,000- 80,000 tonnes monthly.
