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The Trinidad and To­ba­go Ag­gre­gate Pro­duc­ers Al­liance (TTA­PA) says it has de­cid­ed to re­open its mem­bers’ quar­ries af­ter re­cent “con­struc­tive con­ver­sa­tions” with the Min­istry of En­er­gy and En­er­gy In­dus­tries, even though no pro­cess­ing li­cences have yet been is­sued.

TTA­PA pres­i­dent Nigel Tenia con­firmed dur­ing a press brief­ing at the Hilton Trinidad Ho­tel that while mem­bers re­main with­out for­mal li­cences, di­a­logue with the min­istry has pro­vid­ed a “lev­el of com­fort” that al­lows op­er­a­tions to re­sume, a move he de­scribed as an “olive branch” ges­ture to on­go­ing dis­cus­sions.

“What I can tell you is what has hap­pened,” Tenia said. “The con­ver­sa­tions thus far have giv­en us a lev­el of com­fort where we feel that we can re­open. There was a lot of hard­ship that was brought about, not just to our em­ploy­ees, but to truck­ers and oth­er stake­hold­ers. Prices of ag­gre­gate have been ris­ing every day since we’ve been closed.”