The Lethem Industrial Estate is set to come on stream next year, Eccles Industrial Estate is halfway nearing maturity, but Coldingen Estate is falling behind and lots are available for industrial development.
This was the verdict of Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce Manzoor Nadir who said in relation to the 600-acre Lethem Industrial estate in the Rupununi, the design for the estate was completed and the ministry would soon have the tender documents available for the construction of the infrastructure works.
Meanwhile the Industry Division of the Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce has begun the process of preparing an industry policy document, which would be taken to Cabinet for endorsement as the government industrial policy position. The policy document Nadir said was being prepared "in spite of knowing where we want to go."
Just two weeks ago, the ministry received the Environmental Protection Agency permit to go ahead with the development of the Lethem estate. Acquiring the permit took two years, he said.
Noting the estate was now firmly on the ground for completion, he said that this was a big achievement for industry.
But he said Coldingen on the East Coast of Demerara continues to suffer from the lack of investor confidence because of the crime and security situation in the area. Coldingen, he notes, falls "smack in the zone of concern." Coldingen has some 20 lots available. This means that just about half the estate is now occupied. A number of investors have pulled out their projects from that industrial site.
Coldingen was the first estate, Dr Cheddi Jagan established to boost the manufacturing and industrial development upon assuming office in 1992.
The estate that now received more attention, Nadir said, was Eccles. "Unlike Coldingen, which has lots available, Eccles is fully booked," he said adding that the ministry was in the process of evaluating the use of the lots there. At present 38 companies are operating in one form or another. Some 400 jobs have been created and about $1.2 billion was generated in local production.
Nadir said that according to international standards, it takes about seven years for an industrial estate to fully mature and Eccles was about half way there.