THE West End Development Corporation (Wedco) has failed to secure a deal with cement giant Cemex to take over the Bermuda Cement Company plant next month, informed industry sources told the Mid-Ocean News yesterday.

Wedco announced in September that the quango and Cemex had negotiated an agreement to jointly run the Dockyard cement operation for a period of up to two years while bids are taken for a new long-term operator.

The Bermuda Cement Company, a tenant on the site for four decades, was due to bring its operations to a halt on December 31 after negotiations with Wedco over a new lease failed.

Trucks queued up at the Dockyard plant yesterday, as construction companies scrambled to get supplies.

Yesterday we asked Works & Engineering & Housing Minister David Burch if he could give assurances to the construction industry on the future of the cement supply.

He replied with a one-word, e-mailed response: "Yes."

Both Wedco general manager Lloyd Telford and BCC president Jim Butterfield were unavailable for comment.

A member of staff at the BCC plant confirmed that business had been brisker than usual lately and that "everybody was asking what was going to happen".

He added: "There are a few weeks' supply of cement left, but we need another shipment badly."

Alex DeCouto, vice-president of The Construction Association of Bermuda, said yesterday the cement supply situation was of "very grave concern" and the current uncertainty over the cement plant's future did not help.

"There is grave, grave concern in the industry, because cement is not something you can stockpile," Mr. DeCouto said.

"Even a three- or four-day interruption can start to affect everyone, whether they're working on a large project or the smallest renovation. That can lead to major rescheduling.

"An interruption in supply of a week to two weeks would lead to massive-scale lay-offs."

Mr. DeCouto said the construction industry was now as busy as it had been at any time over the past decade and it employed more than 3,000 people.

"Obviously, we would like to see the future of the cement plant sorted out with a sense of urgency," Mr. DeCouto added.

"Uncertainty is bad for business and it makes people do silly things.

"Our livelihoods depend on a consistent supply of cement for various products and processes. The ramifications for our economy are far-reaching."

The intended change in the management of the BCC site followed a long drawn-out feud between Wedco and BCC over a renewal of the lease for the west end site where the company has been operating for around 40 years.

Uncertainty over the future caused BCC staff to mount a two-day strike at the plant in October, which ended when Col. Burch made assurances to them over their futures.

In January this year, Wedco and BCC had been close to agreeing a deal for a 22-year lease extension.

But the deal collapsed, with the chief stumbling block a requirement that would have ended the company's right to operate at Dockyard if an unavoidable shifting of share ownership had occurred on the open stock market.

BCC were also being asked to pay all the costs for cleaning up a new redevelopment site and to demolish its existing cement silos.

Had the deal been finalised, BCC would have demolished its current twin 100-foot high silos at Dockyard (pictured)and developed a new plant 500 feet away at South Basin, with three more aesthetically acceptable dome-shaped silos about half as tall as the old silos.