Barbados explores Suriname for construction materials

Barbados is looking to Suriname for silica sand and aggregate as domestic supplies dwindle, while the government accelerates infrastructure investment, Senior Minister Kerrie Symmonds has told visiting executives from a state-owned mining company in Paramaribo.

Symmonds made the disclosure on Friday during talks with Surinamese officials and a senior delegation from N.V. Grassalco at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre.

Securing access to natural resources would be critical as Barbados seeks to speed up and scale up infrastructure investment, he said.

“When one speaks to natural resources in this part of the world, we also speak to matters relating to silica sand and aggregate and so on. That is going to be absolutely critical to us as a country that is looking to enhance the speed and the scope of our infrastructure investment.”

Barbados has traditionally relied heavily on domestically sourced materials, but Symmonds acknowledged that those resources are becoming increasingly scarce.

“We all know that we have traditionally relied on sourcing some of that silica and contribution to aggregate from Barbados, or a large measure of it coming from Barbados, but those resources have run very slender and so now we are in the business of importing much of those things that we need.”

The search for new sources forms part of a wider effort to strengthen economic ties with Suriname, a “sister CARICOM state” whose location on the South American mainland presents significant opportunities for Barbados, he added.

He also suggested that Bridgetown and Paramaribo needed to revive the agenda set out under the 2018 Brokopondo Agreement, which the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted.

The bilateral deal covered air and maritime connectivity, tourism, agriculture and food security, trade and investment, natural resources and renewable energy.

Suriname’s oil and gas industry and renewable-energy capabilities could also provide opportunities for collaboration, he said.

“COVID is behind us now, and we have to get back to the agenda issues which the Brokopondo Agreement speaks to.” 

Symmonds said Friday’s talks represented an opportunity to turn the longstanding relationship between the two CARICOM countries into practical economic benefits for Barbados. 

Founded in 1971, Grassalco (short for Grasshopper Aluminium Company) is a 100 per cent government-owned mining company active in developing the country’s mineral wealth, including gold and stone.

(SB)