More than a dozen truck drivers and owners staged a recent protest at the roundabout near the Bharrat Jagdeo Demerara River Bridge, demanding what they described as a fairer playing field in Guyana’s trucking industry.
The protesters claimed that foreign-owned companies, particularly Chinese operators, are dominating the sector and driving local truckers out of business through lower prices and what they allege are government-backed advantages.
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According to the truckers, many foreign companies that entered Guyana to undertake large-scale infrastructure projects are now also competing for private hauling contracts, significantly reducing opportunities for local operators.
Truck owner S. Ahmed said the situation has become increasingly difficult for Guyanese drivers and business owners.
“They are killing the market price for us,” Ahmed told reporters. “For example, a load of sand to Ogle would normally cost around $60,000, but they are carrying it for $50,000 or even $45,000.”
Ahmed said several of his trucks have remained parked for months due to the shortage of work.
“It is unfair for us as Guyanese to face this from the Chinese,” he said, alleging that foreign companies benefit from duty-free concessions, access to their own sand pits, and fuel advantages.
“They getting duty free, they getting sand pit, they getting their own source of fuel, while we have to struggle with rising fuel prices,” Ahmed added. “Foreigners are benefiting more than us, and that should not be happening.”
Another trucker, identified as Anil, said he has struggled to secure jobs since the beginning of the year.
“From January I’ve been home without work,” he said, noting that while occasional jobs become available, opportunities continue to decline rapidly.
“The Chinese are dominating the trucking industry because they have multiple trucking services and their own sand pits,” he claimed.
Several truckers said the economic pressure has become unbearable, with increasing operational costs and fewer contracts available to local drivers.
“Everybody losing, but the Chinese keep gaining all the time,” one protester said. “Fuel expensive, everything expensive, and many of us are sitting down without work for weeks.”
The demonstration attracted support from political figures, including leader of the Vigilant Political Action Committee (VPAC) Guyana, Dorwain Bess, and Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed.
Mohamed criticized the government for what he described as being too accommodating toward foreign companies and called for immediate intervention to protect local workers and businesses.
The protest follows similar demonstrations held in Linden in May 2025, when truck drivers accused foreign companies of taking over the trucking and quarry industries while local operators struggled to secure work.
At the time, Guyana’s Minister of Public Works, Juan Edghill, rejected claims that Chinese operators received duty-free concessions for their trucks. He stated that only equipment linked to quarry operations benefited from such concessions and emphasized that “Guyana is open for business.”
Edghill also pledged that the government would not allow local truckers to be unfairly sidelined, though many drivers said they remained dissatisfied with the response and continued to call for tighter controls on the number of foreign-operated trucks entering the market.
Truckers warned that unless measures are implemented to protect local participation in the industry, more Guyanese operators could be forced out of business.
