THE?PLANNED?PROTEST?outside Walkers Quarry, St Andrew did not materialise as expected this morning.
At 9 a.m. only eight truckers were parked outside the lone sand-mining quarry, refusing to purchase the sand after the company announced on Sunday via paid advertisements that it was increasing the price of a ton of sand from $26 to $42 without Value Added Tax.
Some truckers who turned up said they had no choice but to pay the increases. Others who were not aware of the price hike simply left saying that they would have to report the increase to their customers before collecting the sand.
Brian Alkins, operations manager at the Quarry, told the DAILY?NATION that the Board of Directors for Islands Development Ltd which owns the quarry decided to increase the cost given the increase in operational costs and that the quarry had been losing money for the past three years.
While expressing disappointment that they did not receive the necessary support they expected to successfully boycott the Quarry, Winston Callender, Director of NFS Rentals hardware and Vernold Lewis, of Lewis Concrete, said they would be looking to form an association so that they can have discussions with management of the quarry as well as Government because the increase could cripple the construction industry. (MB)
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