Harris Paints Says There Is No Monopoly In Local Paint Retail Sector

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Harris Antigua Team

CEO of the Harris Paints Group, Ian Kenyon has denied a monopoly in the sale of paint products here.

He did so today in a news release announcing the company’s five million dollar investment in Antigua.

Commenting on the controversy sparked last week amongst paint retailers, Kenyon stated  that less developed countries within CARICOM have been discussing steps to create an incentive to attract investment for almost 20 years and during this time any manufacturer could have invested in Antigua or any of the other LDC (less developed countries) economies. He pointed out that because Harris already had plants in Dominica and St Lucia, both LDC countries, Harris was already uniquely positioned to have supplied the Antiguan market duty free.

He added that it was a well-known fact in the paint community, that Berger also has a paint plant in LDC Grenada , which means that Berger, and its other brand Sissons, are equally well placed to supply paints to Antigua tariff free both now and in the future.  “So how can it be a monopoly if Harris is available in 50% of Antigua’s major retailers and its biggest competitor can already supply paint duty free from Grenada? “he pondered!

Kenyon added “Other paint companies could have launched in Antigua but they chose not to do so. That was their decision but we see tremendous potential in Antigua and acted accordingly. It should be no surprise either that our ambitions also extend beyond Antigua because Antigua is in an excellent geographical location supported by world class port facilities which makes it the ideal base to develop export markets in the northern Caribbean!”.

Mr. Kenyon said that the Government had been very supportive in assisting Harris in starting operations as quickly as was achieved and applauded their efforts to attract investment to the island, to develop local business, provide jobs and stimulate the economy.  He concluded by saying that the mission of Harris has always been to “enrich lives through colour” and that Harris

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2 COMMENTS

  1. Why does Harris need other imported paints to be taxed 50% more than them in order to compete? What happened to fair competition? Why can’t paint dealers be on an equal footing tax-wise and let the general public choose which paint they want? Seems like Harris is running from a fair fight. They want an unfair advantage.

  2. When you increase tariffs to bring in competition I suppose in his eyes, that’s not a monopoly.

    What a bunch of shit.

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