Manuel Lascarro, director of the Colombian Association of Concrete Producers (Asocreto), believes that 50% of the ready-mix concrete used in Colombia is made by illegal companies or individuals.
Lascarro has warned contractors that these illegal concrete operators are not taking enough care of the quality of their mixes, nor of the environment. They also end to avoid paying taxes and royalties, resulting in at least COP 250bn (€74.02m / USD $86.99m) in lost taxation revenue per annum.
According to the Colombian National Tax and Customs Authority, 22,140 construction sector businesses owed COP 1.2 trillion as of May 2018.
Figures from DANE, the national department of statistics, show that 2.1m cubic metres of concrete were produced between January 2018 and April 2018 in Colombia ... This marked a drop of 9.2% compared to the 2.34m cubic metres recorded in the same period in 2017.
It looks like the criminal operators are filling the gap.
Lascarro has also pointed out that poor quality concrete will put the safety and security of many building projects at risk.
This story first appeared on July 12 2018 in El Colombiano.
