September 2015 Issue Business View Caribbean

50 September 2015 - Business View Caribbean National Quarries Company Limited Mining for trinidad’s future National Quarries Company Limited was established by the government of Trinidad and Tobago in 1979, for the purpose of managing and regulating the country’s quarry industry. For many years before independence, and even for some time afterward, this important sec- tor of Trinidad’s extractive industries struggled for sta- bility. While attempting to meet the country’s on-again, off-again construction booms and their concomitant need for aggregate building materials, it also had to navigate the ups and downs of the island’s uncertain economy. The result was an industry wracked with inefficiencies, intermittent shortages, and extreme price fluctuations for its products. In addition, it was plagued, from time to time, with random acts of van- dalism, periodic bankruptcies, and illegal operations by some of its private mine owners. Bevon Cook is National Quarries current Chief Execu- tive Officer. He explains the origin and purpose of the company: “National Quarries Limited is a state enter- prise. During the late seventies, there was an oil boom and the consequence of that was increased construc- tion and development of the infrastructure of Trinidad and Tobago. One of the key initiatives for all national