Business View Caribbean
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Business View Caribbean - September 2015 55
Of course, as a state-owned entity, National Quarries
also must keep its prices affordable. Cook feels that
this mandate is what helps keep the entire market
stable - the constraint that National Quarries has on it-
self also acts to constrain its competitors. “If National
Quarries were removed from the equation,” he avers,
“prices could become unstable. The industry is char-
acterized by a lot of privately-owned quarries. We are
the only state-owned quarry. Without us, there is noth-
ing really to stop them from adjusting their price as
they see fit.”
National Quarries is also cognizant of its mission to
help preserve Trinidad’s environment. “When you have
a mining license you’re required by law to engage in
the rehabilitation of exhausted areas,” explains Cook.
“In the past, once the resources were extracted, the
quarry was simply abandoned without any type of care
