Minister of Transport Daryl Vaz announced a ban on ridesharing or ride-hailing apps in Jamaica, with immediate effect. He made the announcement on Tuesday afternoon during his contribution to the 2024/25 Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives. Vaz said he was moved to act after being written to by a member of the Police High Command.

The Ban has recently been withdrawn.

OMNI Industries Limited is a thermoplastics manufacturing and distribution company based in Twickenham Park, St. Catherine and has been operational since 1975. OMNI manufactures, recycles, imports and distributes thermoplastic products including PVC pipes, conduits, hoses and plastic houseware items.

In 1974, Uwe Kumst, a German export merchant from Hamburg (who came to Jamaica in 1964), founded Omni Industries Ltd. as a manufacturing concern for PVC plastics products. Starting with plastic garden hoses, the company quickly grew to manufacture PVC conduit pipes for electrical use, and shortly after started the extrusion of a wide range of PVC water pipes.

In 1984, Wilfried Bergmeier, a German plastic engineer, joined Omni Industries Ltd. as Technical Director, and the company’s expansion continued. An Injection-Moulding Department was added which manufactured PVC pipe fittings and in 1986, Von White, a Jamaican marketing expert, was brought in to lead a highly motivated sales force of 12 persons and its own fleet of delivery trucks.

In 1996, Patrick Kumst, MBA, joined the company as Financial Director. Over the years, Omni Industries Ltd. saw tremendous growth annually, both in production output and sales.

Omni Industries Ltd’s success in the marketplace spurred their expansion into PVC water pipes and fittings, for pressure and drain applications. Also, the Injection-Moulding Department offers a wide variety of molds for bottles crates, houseware items for the kitchen, laundry, garden and commercial containers.

In 2002, Omni Industries Ltd. purchased well-known Thermo Plastics Limited and relocated their operation to a larger facility in Spanish Town. This acquisition allowed for the expansion into new product lines, creating Omni Industries Ltd. as the only manufacturer of industrial packaging products.

We are now considered the leading distributor of PVC pipes in Jamaica.

Aldo Antonio Executive Chairman Businessuite Media Group has a conversation with Marcel Anderson Group Chief Executive Officer and CTO at KYO Group on the disruption they are bringing to International Fast Cargo Transportation from the United States to Jamaica.
This was done as part of the Regional Innovators Segment for the recently held Caribbean Strategy Conference hosted by Framework Consulting Jamaica Ltd.