As Barbados ramps up large-scale infrastructure development across the island, the Caribbean nation is facing a growing shortage of key construction materials, forcing it to look to neighboring CARICOM member Suriname for reliable supplies of silica sand and aggregate, according to senior government official Kerrie Symmonds.
Symmonds made this announcement during high-level talks held Friday at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre, where he met with Surinamese government representatives and a senior leadership delegation from N.V. Grassalco, Suriname’s fully state-owned mining enterprise. The senior minister emphasized that steady access to these essential natural resources is a non-negotiable foundation for Barbados’ goal of accelerating and expanding its national infrastructure investment program.
“When we talk about natural resources needed to drive our infrastructure agenda in this region, silica sand and aggregate top the list,” Symmonds told the delegation. “These inputs are absolutely critical for our country as we work to boost both the pace and scale of our infrastructure upgrades.”
For decades, Barbados has met most of its demand for silica and aggregate through domestic extraction. But Symmonds confirmed that local reserves have been depleted to critically low levels after years of continuous use, leaving the country with no choice but to import the majority of these materials to keep infrastructure projects on schedule.
The push to secure new supply chains from Suriname is not just about solving an immediate material shortage, he noted. It is also a core part of a broader strategy to deepen economic integration and cooperation between the two CARICOM nations. Suriname’s position on the South American mainland gives it unique access to abundant natural resources, creating significant mutual benefits for bilateral trade, Symmonds added.
He also called on both governments to revive the cooperation framework laid out in the 2018 Brokopondo Agreement, a comprehensive bilateral deal that was put on hold when the COVID-19 pandemic shut down cross-border collaboration. The original agreement covers a wide range of priority sectors, including air and maritime transport links, tourism development, agriculture and food security, trade and investment promotion, natural resource development, and renewable energy collaboration. Beyond construction materials, Symmonds pointed out that Suriname’s growing oil and gas sector and its expanding renewable energy capacity open up additional avenues for partnership between the two countries.
“COVID-19 is now in the rearview mirror, and it is time for us to get back to advancing the full cooperation agenda that the Brokopondo Agreement set out for us,” Symmonds said.
Friday’s discussions marked an important milestone in turning the long-standing historical and regional ties between the two Caribbean nations into tangible, practical economic gains for Barbados, he added.
Founded in 1971, N.V. Grassalco — short for Grasshopper Aluminium Company — is a 100 percent state-controlled mining firm focused on developing Suriname’s diverse mineral reserves, which include gold, dimension stone, and industrial construction materials.