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CCNTV6
  • 2 months ago
Transcript
00:00The head of the Aggregate Producers Alliance reveals that for the past 25 years,
00:06this country's sand and gravel industry has operated without official approval.
00:11He explains that buildings and developments across the country have been constructed using materials sold by companies
00:18that were never legally licensed to supply them.
00:21President Nigel Tenier claims that every promise to grant proper licenses by the then ministry was ignored,
00:29leaving the industry and the country in a grey zone.
00:33If your home was built, if your commercial building was built over the last 25 years,
00:39you would have built it with illegal material.
00:42Because every single quarry, every single processor within the sand and gravel industry does not have a processing license.
00:53He says for his membership, it stops now.
00:57There will be no more black market, no more illegal operations.
01:01As of today, we've shut down.
01:06At our last press conference, we reached out to the Minister of Energy, Dr. Rudan Monilal,
01:11and we asked that we contacted within a seven-day period.
01:15That seven-day period has since elapsed, has since passed.
01:17And after our last meeting earlier this week,
01:21when we consider the fact that some of the charges that could be leveled against us are proceeds of crime,
01:26and for those who don't know what that is, that's money laundering.
01:30Tenier says his organization wants to engage with the energy minister to revisit the licensing process
01:37and to get rid of the bureaucracy at Red Tape.
01:40He's also calling for a grace period, giving quarry operators and processors a chance to get their affairs in order
01:47before stricter enforcement takes effect.
01:50We would also like to see a moratorium for all members.
01:55I say all members, strictly for all members, because we've been vetted by the ministry,
02:00we've been vetted by WASA, EMA, and Tongan Country, and in some instances, even Commission of State Lands.
02:06So you are aware of us, and you are aware that we've met the criteria.
02:11Give us a moratorium, give us peace, so that nobody has to worry about the police coming to do a boss.
02:21Nicole M. Romany, TV6 News.
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