The announcement by TCL Guyana Inc. of a percent discount on the price of cement will be welcome news to both those who are in the booming construction industry as well as individual builders of homes etc. And everyone should seek to capitalise on this wonderful opportunity that has been made possible by the company.

TGI has significant stockpiles of cement in the plant in Georgetown with its silos filled almost to capacity and the warehouse holding significant stocks of bagged cement. The TGI plant is able to produce in excess of 20,000 tonnes of cement each month, which is more that the current monthly demand in Guyana.

The price discount is being applied across the board so that at every level of construction activity, domestic, commercial, and public works, there would be benefits to be gained from using TGI cement.

TGI Plant Manager Mark Bender said: “These are difficult economic times all over the word, and it is important that we continue to stimulate development. The TGI price discount will help to stimulate activity as we approach the busiest construction period in the year in Guyana.”

This is very true and it is encouraging to hear that the company is interested in helping to stimulate development in a difficult economic period throughout the globe. It shows that TGL is one of those companies possessing a sense of corporate responsibility and is not just bent on making profits.

With such positive corporate attitudes our society’s socio-economic transformation could become a less tedious and lengthy process because this will help to complement the work of the government. This sort of gesture it is hoped would be emulated by many other corporate citizens as it is apparent that globally, companies are moving in this direction.

According to Marathon Oil Corporation 2008 Report: “Strong values have never been a more essential asset for a company. In the face of a challenging business environment in 2008, Marathon’s commitment to health and safety, environmental stewardship, honesty and integrity, corporate citizenship and our high performance team culture did not waver,” said Clarence P. Cazalot, Jr., Marathon president and CEO.

The 2008 report describes Marathon’s approach to addressing energy challenges as well as its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategy.

“Our CSR efforts range from developing comprehensive strategies to make local residents aware of the qualifications for Marathon job opportunities to installing best available technology in our exploration and production operations and refineries to reduce environmental impacts. In all cases, our goal is sustainability of the Company and the communities in which we live and work,” Cazalot said.

Cement of course is an essential input in the construction and building industry and its relatively high price has been a major contributing factor for the high costs to erect buildings and other structures. But very importantly, there had been the effect of the high prices on the thousands of working class persons who obtained house lots but are unable to build their houses because of prohibitive costs.

Under the current administration over 80,000 house lots have been distributed but unfortunately many recipients have been unable to build their houses. However, with several low income housing projects in train this problem should be alleviated to a large extent.

The lowering of cement prices should also see lower prices in the construction industry and should stimulate a further building boom ultimately leading to more jobs and more markets for those businesses which are connected to the construction sector.