Nicholas Richards, Gleaner WriterWITH THE hurricane season only three days old, some hoteliers are worried the on-going cement crisis might hinder their operations should they be severely hit this season.
"The shortage (cement) would have us facing a lot of difficulties if any of these storms were to make land fall," said Leonard Henry, general manager of Couples Ocho Rios. "We only hope that if a hurricane even hits we will not suffer any severe structural damage as that would place us in a really awkward position."
MAJOR IMPACT
Peter Komposh, general manager at Half Moon in Montego Bay, agrees.
He said a major impact "would indeed affect our operations tremendously, because our property is made of concrete.
"Our hotel has no wooden structures, so if we were to be hit this year then that would be very unfortunate, as we would not be in a very good position, because obviously there would not be enough cement to do repairs if necessary," Komposh said yesterday.
NOT AN ISSUE NOW
However, president of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA), Horace Peterkin, said he would not present the cement fiasco as an issue right now.
"Sure the shortage of any material would affect the industry, but I expect the (cement) crisis to be behind us in a couple of weeks.
"The important thing right now is that everybody (hoteliers) fine tune their hurricane preparation plan that we developed several years ago, that is what we should be thinking about," he said.
COMPENSATION
The current cement shortage was triggered when Caribbean Cement Company Limited (CCCL) recalled 500 tonnes of faulty cement in February and subsequently admitted to having a problem supplying the market.
Persons who used the faulty product are now being compensated by the Rockfort-based company and several private sector companies have lined up to import the commodity after the Government waived all import duties.
In the meantime, tens of thousands of construction workers have been laid off.
