–through partnership with private sector which includes training to manage operations, President Ali announces

PRESIDENT, Dr Irfaan Ali has announced that residents of Paramakatoi (Region Eight) will ultimately become the owners of a major quarry, following a private-sector investment linked to ongoing infrastructural works in the hinterland.
The Head of State disclosed that the founder of International Import and Supplies, the company behind the nearly $800 million expansion of the Paramakatoi airstrip, has invested approximately US$2 million in establishing a quarry in the area.
Under a formal agreement, the contractor will manage the quarry for a five-year period alongside local residents, during which time persons will be trained in its management and operations.
At the end of that period, full ownership of the quarry, including its facilities, will be transferred to the people of Paramakatoi.
“That’s $400 million from what I’m told and I am pleased to say that the contractor has entered into an agreement that for the next five years, or for five years, he will manage the quarry with the people, training the people in the management and operations of the quarry, and in five years, the quarry will be handed over to the people of this area,” the Head of State said.
He added: “This is the type of partnerships that are long lasting, the type of partnership that involves the private sector, government and the people… and it’s the same partnership we want in the aviation sector that when we invest and we build out, the people must feel the impact on that investment on their pockets.
“When we removed VAT that the last government, the APNU+AFC [A Partnership for National Unity+ Alliance For Change] placed on hinterland travel, it is this government that removed that VAT, and we want that benefit to the people,” President Ali added.
The President related that the initiative is part of a broader model adopted by the government in hinterland road construction, which has focused on skills transfer and long-term employment.
He noted that nearly 2,000 hinterland residents across the country have been trained in construction, with close to 1,500 people employed on a permanent basis for most of last year through road-building projects in the region.
“Those are the quiet things that we do to benefit the people of these regions. So, my friends, Paramakatoi’s barrier to development has always been isolation because of access, isolated by terrain, hemmed in by mountains and separated from reliable river transport. Paramakatoi has always been by geography a place apart,” Dr Ali said.
He reiterated that the quarry arrangement is a sustainable partnership among the government, the private sector and local communities, stressing that such collaborations are designed to deliver lasting economic benefits directly to the people.
According to the President, this same approach underpins investments in the aviation sector, ensuring that residents feel the tangible impact of development in their daily lives.
President Ali also highlighted measures taken by his administration to ease the cost of living for hinterland residents, including removal of the value-added tax on hinterland travel and the elimination of fuel taxes when international fuel prices rose, so that increased costs would not be passed on to consumers.
Turning to the broader development challenges facing Paramakatoi, the President said the community’s greatest obstacle has historically been isolation. Surrounded by mountainous terrain, lacking reliable river transport and major highways, the area has long depended on difficult overland trails and air travel.
He emphasised that government investments in roads and airstrip infrastructure are aimed at overcoming these geographic barriers and opening up Paramakatoi to sustained economic and social development.