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CCNTV6
  • 2 months ago
Transcript
00:00Around 30 members of the TTAPA gathered outside the National Quarries Limited in Sangri Grandi
00:06this morning.
00:07They say that 25 years after the Minerals Act was passed, no organization has been issued
00:12a license to process sand and gravel.
00:14And as a result, the companies that mine aggregate are operating illegally, including, they allege,
00:21the National Quarries Limited.
00:23And with the TTPS taking a harder stance on the issue of illegal mining, with 18 persons
00:29including businessman Danny Guerra and his son being arrested at an illegal quarry site
00:34in Manuel, Congo in Kwanapo last month, the group says they felt as though they had no
00:40other choice but to halt operations, even though it may have a serious impact on the construction
00:46industry.
00:47But also, what we would like to do is help the police and the extension, the nation, resolve
00:55the illegal aspect of the business.
01:00If you do not have a processing license, you are illegal.
01:06We don't want to be illegal.
01:08He says workers were afraid of being targeted by the police.
01:12We don't want to have to worry about the police when we wake up four o'clock in the morning
01:16to pay to the site.
01:17We don't want to have to worry about where you're getting finances from because the bank's
01:22going to pull back.
01:23We don't want to have to worry about you can face a possible charge of proceeds of crime,
01:28money laundering.
01:29We don't want to have to worry about these things.
01:31And we shouldn't because there's an avenue and a process that's supposed to facilitate
01:37these things.
01:38However, this avenue, he says, has hit a dead end over the last 25 years and multiple state
01:45agencies, including WASA, the EMA, the Town and Country Division, and the Ministry of Energy,
01:52must coordinate to fix a licensing system he describes as broken.
01:57He warns that the economic fallout of this shutdown may be serious without intervention.
02:05Everybody who's involved from construction, from foundation to finish, because if you can't
02:09start the foundation, you certainly can't do the finish.
02:14So we are talking about in our immediate space, between 15,000 to 20,000 people immediately.
02:21And we envision, when we consider the block manufacturers, the ready-mix producers, the
02:28construction industry, as an extension anywhere between 85,000 to 100,000 people, the longer
02:36this goes on, it's going to affect us.
02:40He says the TTAPA members will maintain the shutdown until government officials agree to
02:47meet with them and to resolve the long-standing issues.
02:51As long as it takes to get a meeting to rectify it, because the can has been kicked 25 years
02:56now down the road.
02:58Everybody kicking it down the road.
02:59It had to stop today.
03:00It had to stop now.
03:01It's Zonda Bruiswold, TV6 News.
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