STUART DONT BE FOOLED

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00:00The aggregate product that is produced from Studley Park is world-class, and in particular the armor rock that is produced from Studley Park.

00:09So really, it is to inform the people of Trinidad and Tobago, and more particularly Tobago, don't be fooled by any export license.

00:18The former PNM central government worked very hard with the THA to always ensure it was allowed to produce aggregate at the Studley Park quarry,

00:29and that is because that aggregate is needed.

00:32The former minister said a Studley Park Enterprises Limited could not keep pace with national demand.

00:38Therefore, exporting the product did not make economic sense.

00:42We said, listen, produce and supply for all of the domestic needs of Trinidad and Tobago, and then you can export.

00:50But that cannot even be done. In fact, one of the documents I'll leave with you today was in 2024, September 2021,

00:59NIDCO went out with a request for proposal for the supply and delivery of aggregates to try and get aggregate.

01:08And we even looked at importing aggregate.

01:10The cabinet of Trinidad and Tobago actually provided permission for importation of aggregate

01:17because the domestic supply had become so desperately short and so many issues with it

01:23that we could not get our road rehabilitation done.

01:27Young added that prior disputes over audits delayed the license renewal, but under his direction, quarry operations were allowed to continue.

01:36The whole export conversation comes down to there is more than enough demand here in Trinidad and Tobago

01:43for the product that can be quarried at Studley Park.

01:49But more importantly, it was not being fulfilled.

01:53And when you have to import this aggregate because our roads require the work and the construction of the work,

01:58roads require this type of aggregate, it is going to cost us foreign exchange, forex, U.S. dollars,

02:06that quite simply the priority should not rest on importing aggregate when we could have it produced here.

02:14The senior council posed the questions directly to the prime minister.

02:18My questions as I've laid out there are, where is the aggregate going to come from?

02:23Or is it that you're going to abandon the roads of Trinidad and Tobago?

02:28Or is it that you have contracts that you want to line up with specific people for the importation of this aggregate?

02:36And the question then becomes, where is the foreign exchange going to come from?

02:39He further claimed that withdrawals from the Heritage and Stabilization Fund continue to rise,

02:46warning that government may soon require IMF support.

02:50Charlotte Kisto, TV6 News.