The first shipment of Cuban cement unloaded at the Caribbean Cement Company’s pier at Rockfort, Kingston, Jamaica.

Some 200,000 bags of cement finally arrived on the island last Friday from Cuba to supply the starved local market, Phillip Paulwell, Minister of Industry, Technology, Energy and Commerce (MITEC), announced yesterday.

The first shipment represents 8000t of a total 72,000t of cement, which is expected to arrive from Cuba over the next three months. This is in addition to 77,000 bags of cement that were imported by ARC Systems Limited last week.

Mr. Paulwell told The Gleaner following a tour of the Rockfort Pier that the arrival of the cement would ensure that there is adequate supply until the next shipment arrives. "We are tracking the sales, production and imports to ensure that very quickly our construction industry not only return to normality but to build on the tremendous growth that is taking place (in the market)," he told reporters.