Business View Caribbean | February 2021

31 BUSINESS VIEW CARIBBEAN FEBRUARY 2021 was being built in Guyana, ARL supplied all the concrete for that, and still continues to operate the Readymix operation in Guyana – a country that Ali says is full of promise. He notes, “Meanwhile, we have enhanced our position in all aspects of the services we need – from material production, mining, transportation, concrete pumping and a host of others. We work as a partnership with our customers, whatever project they are working on, we can provide the services. We are now at a crossroads because technology is taking over and new building systems are reducing the concrete requirements. However, we do not see this as a negative but an opportunity to use technology to provide value engineering services to our customers offering savings to both ourselves and our customers.” For over 30 years, Alescon has partnered with U.S.-based Euclid Chemicals, a provider of superior quality admixtures and masonry products. Alescon is their regional distributor; working closely with them in terms of architectural design concrete and assisting with designs for the replacement of steel with fiber in concrete for slab on grade and elevated slabs, etc. Logistically, it creates a lot of ease because steel is very costly and a difficult material to move, especially in remote areas. “Euclid is a great partner,” says Ali, “and we have tremendous support from them.” Great growth is anticipated in Guyana, especially with roads in the interior and the oil companies requiring significant infrastructure, and Alescon is involved with those projects. In Trinidad, they continue to partner with engineering firms, where they are open to new technologies, such as anchor walls and post tensioning technology where quantities of concrete are used to stabilize basements, for swimming pools, retaining walls. Ali explains, “It can be used for precast as well, where there are applications to the fibers. So we are pushing into the fiber usage ALESCON READYMI X L IMI TED