Coldingen industrial estate
...Killed by crime
Stabroek News
May 28, 2004
George Somwar had big dreams for his furniture factory at Coldingen Industrial Estate. Since taking up his lease in 1996 he says he has invested $50M and once envisaged employing 200 workers. Now Somwar Furniture Establishment has four employees.
His is just one of several businesses on the estate which have been hit hard by crime, high taxes and electricity charges.
The crime wave of 2002/2003, which is still simmering, has been the largest factor in deterring customers and even the businessmen themselves from visiting the site.
One large employer says his overseas clients would call and ask how the crime situation was before flying in.
Somwar said that during the crime wave the company was down for an extended period when all his good workers left for Antigua, Barbados and Suriname.
Now the bank is taking him to court over his Coldingen business and has already seized his property at Suc-cess, East Coast Demerara.
At Guyana Brakes and Clutches Company Incor-porated Pooran Dat said the location is not conducive to business as well as the high electricity charges. He said that the business conducted at the estate could not sustain the operation.
He noted that the streetlights around the establishment are not in working order prompting management to expend money on security lights and personnel.
Ramotar is the caretaker at a plot belonging to Signet Machinery, a company set up to produce tools but which crossed over into making furniture. He told Stabroek Business the site is plagued by crime. He said that the criminals cut large holes in the fence and steal whatever they can.
Since then things have slowed to a halt at that location and Ramotar is there to ensure that the property is not stripped beyond recognition as happened to Rubex Enterprise.
The Rubex Enterprise development originally set up to produce aluminium windows and doors is now a shell with the building stripped of most of its external zinc sheeting revealing its beams.
An Interim Management Committee chaired by Keith Moonasar is in place to assist with the daily administration of the site. Keith Moonasar is the owner of Supra Interna-tional, producers of office furniture, and is also Head of the IMC. He said the committee is not getting the support of residents and therefore management of the site has not been going well. Everybody is doing their own thing. There is no co-operation with regard to waste management among other things.
Shawn Summerson of Summerson's Furniture who has been struggling to make his business work for the last two to three years said business has not been as good as he would have expected. "If I was not a fighter, I might not be around today."
Some investors have been relocated to Eccles while others have had their lots repossessed.
Other businesses either out of business or doing minimal business are Sococo Inc., which was set up to make canned coconut milk, Little Supra International, and Gayadin Hollow Blocks Factory.
There have been some successes, most notably Denmor Garment Factory, which once employed 1000 workers. But even here the effect of Chinese competition has hurt business and there have been some layoffs. Other businesses still operating are Coldingen Cold Storage and Sea Food Pro-cessing, Associated Sawmill-ing Establishment, D. Singh and Sons which is a storage bond, Summerson's Furniture and Comfort Sleep which manufactures mattresses. This is out of a site of nearly 39 acres and with 38 plots.
It is a far cry from the estate's opening in August 1997 at a cost of $200M and with expectations its businesses would generate revenue of $1.3B.
Sources state that about eight leases for Coldingen are on hold because the applicants have not fulfilled all the pre-lease requirements. In addition four persons' leases have not been processed.
Some investors at the site are looking to diversify by renting their plots, while some are getting involved in agricultural projects. However, several of the operations there are downsized to a skeleton staff.
The Industrial Develop-ment Division in the Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce hopes that inves-tors will be encouraged by new 99-year lease agreements that could be used as collateral when applying for bank loans. But with the long term stability of the East Coast as it relates to crime still unclear, the prospects of attracting viable investors are not good. (Christopher Yaw)