Pres­i­dent of the new­ly formed Trinidad and To­ba­go Ag­gre­gate Pro­duc­ers Al­liance (TTA­PA) Nigel Tenia has warned that as many as 100,000 jobs across the con­struc­tion in­dus­try are at risk as quar­ry op­er­a­tors shut down op­er­a­tions over the Gov­ern­ment’s fail­ure to is­sue long-over­due pro­cess­ing li­cences.

Tenia said the clo­sure of its 24 mem­bers’ op­er­a­tions na­tion­wide, which start­ed yes­ter­day, could dis­rupt the sup­ply of sand, grav­el, and oth­er base ma­te­ri­als crit­i­cal to the coun­try’s con­struc­tion and in­fra­struc­ture projects. He said they have all vol­un­tar­i­ly closed their doors to high­light the ur­gent need for re­form in the sec­tor and “safe­guard their liveli­hoods”.

“With­out sand and grav­el, there’s no ce­ment mix, no blocks, no plas­ter, no roof­ing, no wiring, no paint­ing,” Tenia said. “We are the foun­da­tion of the con­struc­tion in­dus­try, and if we stop, every­thing else stops.