The value of well-run quarries in our cities and towns was recently underscored by research suggesting that every job in the quarrying industry creates a further five jobs in downstream operations.
These figures therefore suggest that quarries are major contributors to regional job creation efforts; and as an industry is a major driver of the national economy accounting for substantial revenues and the creation of many thousands of direct and indirect jobs.
Aspasa director, Nico Pienaar, says these job creation figures are yet another compelling reason for communities to be excited about the proclamation of a new quarry. “A registered legal quarry, especially one belonging to Aspasa should be an asset to a community by creating jobs and allowing for the construction of houses and infrastructure to be developed within the surrounding areas.
“The research done in the USA by the Phoenix Centre for Advanced Legal and Economic Public Policy Studies shows that quarries are not only beneficial to the development of physical infrastructure, but are also major contributors to the building of strong local economies. Furthermore, it showed that the benefits lasted for an extended period of time ranging from 20 years to longer.
“This effectively means that people can be employed within the supply chain of a quarry for a lifetime. That means that everyone from the quarry manager, to the machine operators, transport providers, financial services, surrounding store owners and a host of other beneficiaries can build long term plans and rely on the quarry as a constant source of income.
“Given today’s requirement for strict health and safety requirements, and with tight legislation guarding all environmental aspects of a quarry, perhaps the time has now come for communities to change their misconceptions about quarries and to start viewing them as enablers of strong communities with solid infrastructure that is sourced locally with lifelong benefits for the entire community,” concludes Nico
