IN response to reports that Commissioner of Police (ag) Clifton Hicken and Deputy Commissioner Calvin Brutus have permission to open sand pits on the Soesdyke/Linden Highway, People’s Progressive Party (PPP) General Secretary, Dr Bharrat Jagdeo, has made it clear that this will not happen.

He made those remarks during a press conference at Freedom House, on Thursday, when he highlighted the increased demand for sand and how the government is working to open more public sand pits.
Dr Jagdeo also pointed out that those who possess sand pits were “jacking up” the prices and the government opened public sand pits to regulate the prices.

“Let me make it clear that the Government of Guyana, on the highway has put a hold on all the sandpits,” he said.
Dr Jagdeo also said that the government wants the land for “public use” because many people who are residing on the highway lack proper documentation, and the government is also trying to attain large tracks of land to do the Silica City, among other developments.

The Government of Guyana is working to stabilise the price of sand and stone, according to Dr Jagdeo in December 2023.
He said that the prices for stone and sand had skyrocket due to a shortage. To cushion the effects of this, the government implemented several measures.

“Stone prices skyrocketed; there was a shortage. It was about $15,000 a tonne of crusher run and stone and the prices skyrocketed and there was a shortage. We licensed about nine new quarries…this is a success story; six new quarries are either operating or started operating. The prices now have come down back to about $10,000 per tonne for stone,” Dr Jagdeo said.

To increase the production of sand, the government opened several sandpits to support the country’s infrastructural sector.
“When the prices skyrocketed, we said we open up some government sandpits, we’re going to do more of that, so that the prices were just jumping all the time. We are trying to get the prices to come down,” Dr Jagdeo said.

Figures provided by the Natural Resources Minister in 2021, showed the production for sand surpassed 1.65 million tonnes, as compared to the 688,051 tonnes produced in 2020.

As for stone, 2021 saw a production of 853,099 tonnes, as compared to the 737,750 tonnes produced during the same period in the previous year. It has been noted that even with improved production, there were still complaints of shortages across the country.

Eleven quarry licences were issued to new applicants, covering 30,737 acres with each having a productive capacity of 150,000-200,000 tonnes per year.