Sand, Stone and Levies: Pricing What We Take From Our Rivers
Every truckload of river sand carries costs that never appear on the invoice. Well-designed environmental levies can put them back into the price.
Dr. Peter Edwards3 min read
In January 2009 The Gleaner published a letter of mine proposing a cess on construction aggregates. The trigger was a proposal for a fuel cess to pay for road repairs. As a resident of western St Thomas, I pointed out that aggregate trucks from the Yallahs River were doing much of the damage: warped roads, potholes, gravel spilled on the road surface, dust and soil erosion. The people buying the sand and gravel did not pay those costs. The public did.
Negative externalities, explained
Economists call this a negative externality: a cost borne by people who are not part of the transaction. When a producer does not pay the full cost of what it does, it produces more than is good for society. The remedy is to make the price reflect the full cost, through regulation, clear property rights or a charge equal to the damage.
From aggregates to the Environmental Protection Levy
That is the idea behind environmental levies. In February 2026 I wrote in The Gleaner about the proposed increase in Jamaica's Environmental Protection Levy. Levies work best when they do three things: discourage harmful activity, raise predictable revenue and fund investments that make us more resilient. That means aiming them at the activities that cause the most damage, including mining and aggregate extraction, being transparent about where the money goes, and making sure it reaches the agencies that protect our rivers, forests and coasts.
Moving the load
Pricing is only part of the answer. In 2009 I suggested moving bulk aggregate by sea, from a loading point off Yallahs to distribution points around the island, instead of by truck along our roads. The broader lesson holds. When we count the full costs of extraction, better options become obvious, and cheaper for the country as a whole.
Adapted from “Place Cess on Construction Aggregates” (The Gleaner, Letter of the Day, January 17, 2009) and “Making Environmental Levies Work for People and Nature” (The Gleaner, February 25, 2026).