Construction halted on illegal concrete plant
CH&PA Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Sherwin Greaves and Housing and Water Minister, Collin Croal, at the Superior Concrete Inc. facility, South Ruimveldt Gardens on Tuesday
CH&PA Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Sherwin Greaves and Housing and Water Minister, Collin Croal, at the Superior Concrete Inc. facility, South Ruimveldt Gardens on Tuesday

— one director given seven days to leave Guyana
— another shows hostility to Central Housing and Planning Authority officers

THE Ministry of Housing has taken legal action against Superior Concrete Inc. for its construction of an illegal concrete facility adjacent to South Ruimveldt Gardens, Georgetown, Housing and Water Minister, Colin Croal, disclosed during a visit to the site on Tuesday.
Construction on the site had started even though the company did not apply for, nor received the requisite approval from authorities such as the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Mayor and City Council (M&CC) for work to begin.
On Tuesday, the CH&PA served the company with a third Contravention Order, which serves as a cease-and-desist order and seeks to halt all works on the site for breach of conduct.

Construction halted on illegal concrete plant

Minister Croal noted that the CH&PA received a number of complaints from residents about the construction of the plant and found that no application was done to CH&PA for the construction of that plant or factory.
He reminded that there is a legal requirement that companies seeking to construct factories of this nature must be granted approval from the tripartite agencies before any work commences. This is to ensure that the necessary procedures are followed in keeping with safety regulations.
“To have an investment of this nature, without first seeking an approval process or an application is not the correct way. We know that the first agency that is involved for permit for commercial purpose for construction is the CHPA, all those approval requests they have to go through a process of verification, there are different agencies that are involved that must give their necessary no-objection and then based on the report it goes before the CHPA board,” stated Minister Croal.

HOSTILE
Minister Croal noted that in addition to being unapproved for the ongoing construction, the representatives of Superior Concrete Inc. have met CH&PA representatives with hostility when they sought to serve the company with the first Contravention Order. He clarified that when that order was served, a senior member of the company “threw away” it (order) in the presence of CH&PA officers, showing blatant disrespect for the government agency.
“Our team from CH&PA came here to serve that contravention notice and met a hostile environment, the disrespect to our officers of throwing that notice away in front of the officer will see us now at this stage having served the third contravention notice; we are taking the necessary steps and action that are required legally for us to ensure that this enforcement is done. And what is alarming is that the person who throw that notice on the ground is someone who is a director of Superior Concrete Inc. Mr. Ion Jones,” the minister explained.

According to a News Room report, the government has since given Jones seven days with effect from May 12, 2021, to depart Guyana.
The immigration department reportedly discovered that Jones’ services were terminated by his previous employers, who operate in Guyana, but he continued to work in the country under the conditions of same work permit.
It is for this reason that the government has moved to cancel the work permit and his extension of stay.

COMMITTED TO FOREIGN INVESTMENT
Minister Croal further noted that while the government is committed to engaging foreign companies on investment and partnership opportunities, all such partnerships must follow the legal application and approval process.
“We as a government welcome investment, we welcome all types of investment but there must be a manner in which investments are done; there is an approval process, an application process and that must be followed and the first-stop agency for construction permits is the CH&PA. If you want to have clarity on a particular area, the CH&PA is the ministry for you to stop at to enquire on the land use because we have a responsibility for proper land use through zoning,” stated Minister Croal. Meanwhile, CH&PA Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Sherwin Greaves, noted that prior to starting construction, Superior Concrete Inc. had not carried out any consultations with the members of the community to assess or address their concerns. He noted that this is a normal practice expected to be carried out by companies seeking to set up this type of facility.

“One of the main aspects of the process is engagement with residents of the area and the residents of the area, I am sure, are appalled by what is happening here without them being consulted, so we are really worried about this. There is a process and the company has not followed that process, but we have followed the process and they have been issued with a cease-and-desist order which means they can’t continue doing anything else.”
He noted that while the matter engages the attention of the court, the CH&PA will be paying frequent visits to the facility to ensure compliance with the order.
The High Court, on Friday, also entertained an application for an injunction, made by other landowners in the area, asking for the Court’s support in resolving the matter. Further, Greaves stated that since the matter is being addressed at the court, there will be no engagement between the representatives of the company and the CH&PA until that court matter has been resolved.

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