CARIBBEAN Cement Company has cried foul, saying claims for use of bad cement, for which it has so far paid out $55 million, are excessive.

At the same time, Carib Cement suggested that the recent cement crisis had proved its point that Jamaica could not depend totally on imports.

In response to Sunday Observer queries, Lystra Sharpe, the cement company’s spokeswoman confirmed that the CCC had forked out $55 million to compensate 40 per cent of claimants.

But “while the vast majority of claims have been genuine, there were some who sought to use the opportunity to unfairly benefit,” she said.

Sharpe did not specify in what way the claimants had tried to unfairly benefit, but said most of those paid had received between 85 per cent and 100 per cent of the value of their claims, suggesting that some claims were reduced by at least 15 per cent.

The Daily Observer reported Monday that a Portmore home-owner had bemoaned the fact that the cement company had cut her $1.3 million claim to $96,000.

Sharpe said then that the building in question should not have been knocked down and that the company had paid the $96,000 for corrective work. Part of the problem, she added, was bad workmanship.

Some 1,600 complaints have been received by CCC, for which compensation is being sought for the use of faulty cement issued to the market.

The company said 903 of the sites had so far been visited. It has projected liability of $160 million after insurance.

“Naturally, not all of the complaints resulted in claims. Some persons, out of an abundance of caution, wanted their structures examined and declared competent,” Sharpe clarified.

The construction industry went into a tailspin in February when it was discovered that bad cement had led to the collapse of at least one building, forcing a recall of 500 tonnes.

At the height of the crisis, an estimated 100,000 construction workers were idled, as construction projects came to a halt.

In response, the government dropped import duties on cement and opened the market to importers. Since then, some shipments of the commodity have arrived in the island, with critics saying it showed that importation of cement was preferable to the near monopoly enjoyed by Carib Cement.

But the cement maker contended Thursday that the recent crisis had clearly demonstrated that Jamaica could not depend totally on cement importers.

“Despite the removal of the tariff on imported cement, there have been no notable or significant imports into Jamaica by any other parties except for Carib Cement,” Sharpe said.

“The need for a local plant in Jamaica is more than evident,” she insisted.

The company is investing some US$100-130 million to upgrade its plant, boosting capacity to two million tonnes, and had got safeguard protection from government in return.

On March 24, Dr Rollin Betrand, chief executive of Trinidad Cement Limited – Carib Cement’s parent company – admitted to errors at the Rockfort plant and a breakdown of its quality control system.

Sharpe said Carib Cement had initiated recalls of the faulty product on its own volition.

“The company has not sought to avoid its culpability or shirk its responsibility in this regard,” she said.

Carib Cement launched its own investigation using the services of internationally recognized cement experts. The Company immediately acted on the preliminary report and has made changes and instituted systems to ensure a product of consistently high quality in the trade,” she said.