“I have an order of $50,000 tonnes per month (in Trinidad). As soon as the Government’s ship comes in with the stone, my own (would be) going out the next day,” he told a gathering of reporters at his Tiperu/Itabu Quarries in the Mazaruni River.
Government has recently been declaring there is a stone shortage on the local market, and has been pointing to the need to import stone, and the rise in prices for the commodity — especially over the last two years –- as evidence to substantiate its claim.
In fact, Public Works Minister Robeson Benn is adamant that the stone shortage is real, and has declared that importation plans will go ahead; but BK International yesterday took to the quarries representatives of almost all of the media houses in Guyana, in an effort to establish that a stone shortage does not exist. The media were afforded opportunity to tour the site.
Tiwarie believes he has to endure a “personal attack” from the authorities. “It is no other problem. We have the capacity. There is nobody in the country that has more capacity than us in any area. We don’t say it! We do it!” he remarked.
Tiwarie yesterday refuted Government’s claim that it needs 97,000 tonnes of stone per month to complete its capital works. In his estimation, the Government’s demand is a mere 30 to 40,000 tonnes.
Asked to justify Government’s claims that a shortage exists because of the current stone importation and a steady rise in prices, Tiwarie told the Chronicle that his company has not changed its retail prices for that commodity within the last two years. As for the need to import stone, he said only Government can say why that need exists.
No outstanding orders
Sales and Marketing Manager, Briony Gail Tiwarie told reporters that the visit yesterday was organized to afford the media opportunity to peruse the company’s operations and see what quantities of stone the company has stockpiled. She stressed that BK International has no outstanding orders for the past week, and confirmed that the company is ready to supply whatever quantity of stone is demanded of it.
“I asked the ministry (Public Works) to supply us with a forecast of what the demand is likely to be over a quarter, and I will tailor my production towards that quota, in order to supply the demand. We have always maintained competitive prices in the market, and our company believes in (giving) value for your money.
“I guarantee the public that we will continue to provide quality stones at competitive prices, and we will continue to monitor the market to see how it is fluctuating.
“Our company is very active with our production and distribution. My most recent shipment to Georgetown was on Thursday. We are very diligent in our work, and take pride in the product that we offer,” she remarked.
And General Manager of the BK Quarries, Dayaljee Persaud, told the media that the quarries are operating up to midnight on a daily basis. As the demand increases, however, they intend to run on a 24-hour basis.
Manager and Geologist Omar Persaud said BK International can increase its production simply by increasing the feed rates and the hours of work. “It is not business smart or economics, or makes any sense to subject our machines and our staff to triple production to produce a stockpile here, which we cannot move or cannot sell.”
However, should demand increase, even overnight, all the company needs do is increase the feed rate on its machines and grind more stones. “There is no need for us at the moment to purchase any more equipment to increase our production,” he noted.
