Speaking at the annual shareholders’ tour of the Cement Company factory in Rockfort, Peter Donkersloot, general manager, shared the good news that his company is doing well, yet also shared his confusion as to why the official statistics do not reflect growth in the construction sector.
“In terms of growth, our sales are up by eight per cent. Yet the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) says construction is up one per cent. I find that hard to believe.”
That said, one shareholder noted that you don’t need cement in all areas of construction. Donkersloot, agreed, yet countered that, “Nobody buys cement for any other purpose than building. So the PIOJ needs to explain their numbers. I suspect they have information that I don’t.”
Donkersloot continued, “My logic is that construction growth should be higher than cement sales, but I don’t have all the facts that PIOJ has.”
Even with the varying growth numbers, Donkersloot says, “I have no doubt that in five years Jamaica will be better down the road as the first step of bringing debt down to 100 per cent of gross domestic product will leave room in the budget for infrastructure investment.”
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