WILLEMSTAD — Approximately sixty drivers of large and small trucks blocked the entrance to the terrain of the Mining Company Curaçao today because they find that the company is selling all available sand and gravel to own customers.
NEWS ARTICLE TAKEN FROM WWW.AMIGOE.COM
The drivers purchase these materials and sell these independently to project developers and private persons who are busy with building projects. They are entirely dependent on the Mining Company. Although one had called in the police, the latter did not intervene because the protesting drivers kept quiet.
Spokesperson Raymond Rivaela says that since two weeks, the company has been selling the materials sparsely to the drivers. According to the protesters, the Mining Company explained that production is at a standstill due to the heavy downpour. "We are allowed to buy the materials between seven o’clock in the morning and four o’clock in the afternoon, but there’s nothing to buy because there’s no material. The digging up and the production simply continue in the meantime. What happens is that their trucks secretly drive back and forth at night with the extracted material. They even deliver to ships that subsequently transport the material to Guyana, while almost all building activities are at a standstill on the island" according to Rivaela.
Around eleven-thirty, some thirty drivers and their trucks are still standing at the entrance. Rivaela is called aside by an employee from the Mining Company and is given the message that the manager wants to speak with them at one o’clock in order to come up with a solution.
Five men are allowed to attend the meeting. "I trust this gentleman, which is why I also hope this will work out well," says Rivaela.
The angry drivers said that some had even spent nights in their trucks on the terrain in order to buy the required material as early as possible. "They deliver the material to their customers at night with six big trucks, each containing 24 cubic meters. Even the concrete factory is at a standstill because they are entirely dependent on the supply of sand and gravel for their production" according to angry driver.
NEWS ARTICLE TAKEN FROM WWW.AMIGOE.COM