Tuesday 3rd May 2011: Former Prime Minister and Leader of Her Majesty’s Opposition, Dr. the Right Honorable Keith Mitchell has called on government to find sustainable and reasonable solutions to the issue of sand mining and importation and to be transparent on this important issue. Dr. Mitchell made the call during a meeting with the St. Mark business community on Wednesday. The meeting was attended by well over one hundred small and large scale business operators as well as farmers and fishermen at the Victoria Hotel in Victoria, St. Mark.

The NNP Political Leader spoke of the former administrations stance on the issue of sand mining as one where it was recognized that there was a need to end the indiscriminate use of beach sand. He spoke of the NNP Government as looking at three possible solutions on the issue. The first he stated was the use of crushed aggregate to create sand. This was found to be reasonable since the crushed sand is stronger for building purposes while the sea sand is better for the plastering and finishing of structures. The NNP Administration he stated was also looking at the possibility of importing sand into Grenada from various sources. The final approach he stated was that of dredging for sand in the waters off Grenada.

The Opposition Leader also stated that it was found that the sand which may have cost seventy dollars to purchase, afterward, would cost hundreds to transport so there was also a need for sand depots around the country and this had been taken into consideration to get transportation costs down. Dr. Mitchell said that what is needed on this issue is a reasonable and not an unreasonable solution as presently there has been an exorbitant rise in the price of sand.

The Opposition therefore makes a call on the NDC Administration to find the most reasonable source of aggregate for the Grenadian construction industry and to be transparent about the present process for the importation of sand inclusive of who the importers are and the pricing structure.