Guyanese contractor, Suresh Jagmohan, has further expanded his services in the construction industry with the establishment of the concrete manufacturing facility that seeks to offer a sustainable and durable option.
DCSN Manufacturing Inc, a subsidiary of S. Jagmohan Construction and General Supplies Inc., is a $300 million investment that was undertaken by the renowned contractor and is expect to create between 150 to 200 new jobs for Guyanese.
Recognising the growing demand in the local construction sector, the company has already established Asphalt and Bitumen plants, and is now venturing into durable concrete products. These include pre-stressed concrete piles and slabs, pre-stressed utility poles, ready-mix concrete and hollow blocks/pavers.
The company’s Managing Director, Chaitanya Jagmohan, explained at the grand commissioning ceremony at its Little Diamond, East Bank Demerara location on Sunday that DCSN Manufacturing was birthed from that fact that the parent company was awarded the contract for one of the lots in the recently completed $2.3 billion Mandela Avenue to Eccles four-lane concrete highway, and was in need of concrete materials.
“This carriageway has a concrete surface and our lot contractually required the construction of eight pre-stressed concrete bridges [for which] pretension piles and concrete slabs would be needed. We began by requesting quotations from local manufacturers for those items. The availability coupled with the price backed us into the corner of innovation. Here was a business opportunity that matched our engineering strengths,” she noted.
According to the MD, S. Jagmohan Construction could not pass up the opportunity it was being presented with hence within three months, and using its 22-year experience, it conceptualised and constructed the facility that is designed to produce pre-tension and post-tension concrete elements such as posts for deep foundations, slabs for bridge decks, sheet piles for retaining wall structures, precast culverts of rectangular and circular cross sections, utility poles and aashto type vi girders – all within international standards and specifications.
“Our mission at this plant is to produce the highest quality concrete elements using state-of-the-art technology to meet our customers specifications and requirements. Going forward, we hope to expand and enhance the range of concrete products. In the medium term, we hope to manufacture the full gamut of hollow blocks and pavers as well as provide ready-mix concrete. It is the hope of management that the opening of this plant helps in the meeting of the demand for durable concrete products in the local market,” the young Jagdmohan posited.
Meanwhile, Housing and Water Minister Collin Croal said he was pleased to hear that the niche for such concrete products was created through a road project undertaken by his ministry. He noted that scores of other projects, including those under other ministries, have shown that the demand for these materials is there.
“The local market is not always able to supply for the demand that is required. This plant will therefore lend critical support for these highway projects through your quality prestressed and precast concrete products… This investment too will create much-needed jobs and in the long term will therefore reduce, significantly, the expensive importation of similar products to ensure that we are able to ultimately respond to home construction and infrastructure projects,” Minister Croal posited.
According to the Housing Minister, the Government will continue to introduce policies and investment incentives that make the investment environment both attractive as well as secure, especially for local investors.
Similar sentiments were expressed by Public Works Minister Juan Edghill, who in his feature address, pointed out that investments such as these demonstrates the successful of the government in creating the enabling environment for local businesses to venture out into new areas.
“We send a clear signal; we will continue to provide an enabling environment for the buoyant development of our private sector. We will continue to create that environment that instills confidence gives hope that people can see opportunities to invest.”
“We don’t want our capital to be moving to foreign jurisdictions. We want our capital to be invested in Guyana for the development of Guyana and while you do that, everybody must have predictable circumstances to ensure good rate of return… All of us should be deeply appreciated with the swiftness as well as how comprehensive that action has been with the local content legislation to protect our local people. Guyana is open for business; Guyana is open for investment. Guyana’s future is bright, let’s start thinking 2040, 2030 and 2050. We can’t stay small; we can keep suffering. We can keep doing the same thing over and over again. Engineering architecture, manufacturing, new skill sets must take on a new dimension and we all got to play a part of it,” he stated.
In the same breath, however, the Public Works Minister urge local companies to partner with foreign investors coming here and learn from their expertise so that together, Guyana can be developed to international standards.
Moreover, Edghill outlined the importance of having a local supply of these in-demand concrete products. He pointed to various major road process across the country that would need materials for concrete bridges to be constructed.
The Public Works Minister contended that if the capacity is not there then there would be shortages in the country thus holding up and delaying major projects in the construction industry and the infrastructure development programme.
“For those of us who don’t understand the complexities of these [materials], if you have prestressed and precast concrete that you’re building with, you get things done faster. Because if you have to cast bridges and cast-in-situ, you have to wait at least 21 to 28 days before you could use it. But once you’re able to get it prestressed, in seven days you’re got to go… We have to start doing things differently and… we have to understand that things cannot remain the same,” the Public Works Minister asserted.
Also speaking at the commissioning ceremony was Indian High Commissioner to Guyana, Dr K.J Srinivasa, who lauded DCSN Manufacturing Inc. for sourcing the equipment for the concrete from India. He stated that Indian contractors working on projects in Guyana can be able to source concrete materials from the company locally, which will not only save cost but time as well.
Meanwhile, key private sector officials similarly commended the construction company for taking up the mantle and not enhancing the supply chain for Guyana’s manufacturing and construction needs but doing so in a sustainable manner.
