Jamaica Gets Cement Shipment From Cuba

Jamaica Gets Cement Shipment From Cuba
June 26, 2006, 2:18PM
© 2006 The Associated Press

KINGSTON, Jamaica — A shipment of 8,000 tons of cement arrived in the
Jamaican capital from Cuba on Sunday _ some two months after officials
expected it would arrive.

The cement, which will help ease a shortage that has slowed construction
on the island, will be issued for local distribution on Monday, said
Commerce Minister Phillip Paulwell. It was not clear why the shipment
was delayed.

Paulwell said it is the first of several shipments expected from Cuba to
ease the cement shortage.

Jamaica began negotiating with Cuba to supply cement after the main
local producer, Caribbean Cement Company Limited, temporarily suspended
production in March following claims of substandard product.

An internal inquiry later revealed that the company had distributed some
551,000 tons of faulty cement since November, according to Trinidad
Cement Limited, the company's major shareholder.

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