Dear Editor,
Stabroek News (May 20, 2025) is much about “Suriname’s Grassico opens office here to supply aggregate.”
“Suriname’s state owned mining company Grassaico yesterday launched the Guyanese subsidiary, Guysure Aggregate and Sands Inc. (Guysure ASI), with Surinamese President, Chandrikapersad Santokhi and other officials hailing the development as a deepening of economic and diplomatic ties.”
Why we should be importing stones is way unbelievable. I am aware, along with Phillip Alsoop and a team, extensive research was conducted. It was determined that apart from Teperu, we had enough aggregate to supply local needs and to export, even with the present construction boom, we have enough aggregate to supply the industry.
At Teperu, for example, we found that the stone was extremely hard and the crusher’s face of the quarry could not last for a long time. We journeyed to Germany and had this corrected. What the Government should be doing is to discuss with the several quarry owners, so that they work out the modalities to increase the rate of production and transportation to deliver the aggregate to the points or locations, where needed.
To import stone, seems to be a mechanism for some set of persons to make money. I state Guyana has enough stone to supply all of its current needs. I challenge the Government to unearth the report which justifies its claims to tell how many quarries are now operational and how much stone there is available for the next decade. In the meantime Dear Editor, obtain the views of the quarry owners operating in Guyana..
Independence is a few days away and I hope and pray that the current leadership of this country appreciates that Independence and those who fought for Independence must not be used as a slogan but manifest through words and deeds, the deeper meaning of what Independence represents. Don’t be surprised if the next big news will be some Foreigner importing water in this Land of many waters.
Yours truly,
Hamilton Green
Elder
