Agri Minister signals displeasure
GuySuCo is likely to lose substantial revenue as the commissioning problems with the new Skeldon factory mean that little grinding for this crop will be done and the Agriculture Minister yesterday signalled his government’s displeasure at the situation.
The problems at the much vaunted US$181M Skeldon sugar expansion project means that the estate will not meet its production target this year.
Minister of Agriculture Robert Persaud told Stabroek News yesterday that the financial fallout from the mechanical failure has not yet been quantified and he confirmed that the Skeldon estate will not meet its production target this year.
Persaud said the government was not happy with the commissioning failure and was looking at the obligations of the contractors, other options and remedies with the main focus at this time being getting the factory commissioned.
A senior GuySuCo staffer, who provided some information to this newspaper on the current problems at the Skeldon estate yesterday, said that because of the mechanical problems, cane, which should have already been harvested, had overgrown (overrun fields). He said there were blocks of overgrown fields with canes, in some cases as old as two years which could not be milled into any useful product.
He said additional money would now have to be spent to clear those fields and re-cultivate them.
The senior employee, who asked for anonymity, said it was always expected that the new factory would have processed the current second crop. He said because no major problems were foreseen with the new factory, functioning parts were removed from the old factory and taken to other sugar factories even before the tests on the new factory had begun.
The parts removed included electric motors, which have now been recalled so that the old factory could be reassembled. The old factory is expected to start operation by next week, he said, but added that returning the motors and other parts to Skeldon could now also have an impact on the production capacity of the other factories.
Contrary to reports from the management of GuySuCo that the problems first occurred during the testing period September 9 to 11, the staff member recalled that the first mechanical problem was encountered on August 1. Then, he said, the bearing lubrication at the last shredder (cane knives) failed and caused extensive damage to the shaft and other components. This problem was encountered after only five punts of cane were milled.
During the second attempt to run the factory, another 16 punts of cane were milled before “two ears broke off one of the punt dumpers and caused the punt to drop on the carriage causing damage to the foundation.” The factory is apparently equipped with two punt dumpers, which operate hydraulically. They lift the loaded punt out of the canal, discharge its contents by turning the punt over above the cane carriage, and then return the empty punt to the canal.
At present only one punt dumper is operational as parts for the damaged one have to be shipped in via ocean cargo. Because of this, it is estimated that the new factory will now be restarted for trial around the third or last week in October, but definitely not in time to grind the current crop.
When the mechanical failures occurred, the source said, 385 punts of cane were waiting to be processed and because they had not deteriorated, they could have been used to make molasses. But making molasses required fuel, the employee said, and GuySuCo management felt it was uneconomical to burn expensive fuel. In addition, there was no bagasse in the storage area to use as alternative fuel. So a decision was taken to convert the 385 punts of cane to bagasse (cane husk) which will be used as fuel in the future.
At a press conference held at Herdmanston House on Monday, GuySuCo sought to assure the media that there were no major technical component failures or structural deficiencies in the US$181 million project.
When asked how soon, the commissioning of the factory could resume, GuySuCo Chief Executive Nick Jackson had said that it was very difficult to anticipate this stage but it could be in early October.
Before the factory is handed over, the contractor – CNTIC of China, is required to successfully conduct a 24-hour test and a 72-hour test. Following this, there would be three other 72-hour tests over the next year and the contractor would still be liable for defects arising from those tests.
Work began on the factory in 2005 and it was expected that the project would have been completed by October last year. Since then the commissioning date has been pushed back several times with the last date being August 2, 2008.
here we go again……chinese product……..
not surprise with all the defective products made in china.
Did this government US$200M on Skeldon to placate sugarworkers, who form a major part of the PPP’s base?
Did the government tap into the NIS for millions to build the Berbice Bridge to placate residents in an area that traditionally vote PPP? Not that the bridge idea is not good, but how does the government plan in reimbusing the NIS if the bridge will not be equipped with toll booths?
If this PPP pulls off a major win in 2011, then I will concede it’s time tio leave Guyanese alone; they deserve the government they get!
You should start packing dont wait for 2011 Andy, you sounds like uncle Freddie only thing he dont want to leave
Sorry Andy your comment was so outragous I did not realise you already out of guyana so you can leave Guyana alone
well u must undestand that guyana hAS a legacy based on racial politics so in this case, the guyanese popalance tends to vote along racial lines and dont adhere to the things that effect them on a daily basis, so my friend unless guyanese comes to realise that they must vote for a party or someone who will move away from this vote for your race ideology and vote for a party who will bring guyana out of it’s situation which it is now in and put guyana back where it was before, as a prosperous nation.
Andy did Burnham not take East Indian people’s money to build the national culture ceter?What say you to that?
Chinese with an EPCM turnkey project.What a joke.At first I tought they financed this project because they were doing the design,procurement,installation and commissioning.It turns out they are the main contractors with funding from other sources.They took advantage of the situation because they know the technical skill level does not exist in Guyana to monitor the construction phase.
I want SN to ask this question to Guysuco…In the bid documents did it specify that major components (subsystems) must be procured from specific reputable manufacturers (industry standard)?
Where in God’s Green And Good Guyana (nothing to do with the one time GGG Political Party) are the P. R. Carmichaels and the R. M. Glasfords of the then Bookers Sugar Estates. :-[
this is very bad managing on the part of the govt. how could you take parts
from the old system without verifying that the new system is up and running
properly , this is nonsense come on rebert persaud you should know better,
where is the vision of this regime?
The closest thing to certainty in this uncertain world is that in Guyana you are virtually guaranteed to hear excuse after excuse for Government’s poor performance relative to every issue of significance to citizens. Excuses can range from funny to foolish and from sincere to very,very silly. In this instance, it is very, very silly. Very, very silly in that, even Ms. Mabel will tell you, that you do not completely close (dismantle production machinery) one operation and and start up another without running parallel production. In my days in the village Gobin would talk about the performance of the responsible managers in this way: ” Dem boys think dem a big ones, but deh can’t even run a cake shop” And a very BIG laughter would follow. I hope hope the President views “dem boys” the same way Gobin would and find a roadside stand for them to manage instead of a “cake shop”. Pun. I say no more.
Really, Here I thought everything was going splendid in Guyana, especially things that the big PPP man Mr. Robert Persaud MBA. is involved with.
Hi wazz up latch this is Points that used to work at NDIB with you, and we all know that Robert Persaud does not make sense if you look at the world market with sugar.
Why govt. is not firing Project Manager? They are the one should be making decision for the project not contractor.
IT IS TIME FOR BOOKER TATE TO GO HOME.
Poor Project Management
Booker Tate reaped millions of US to manage this project, they had many experts, consultants, project managers and project directors on super salaries and benefits. They were always flying in and out of the country inspecting and verifying the Works so I do hope that they will be held responsible too….
It is a blessing in disguise that the land development and planting phase fell so far behind (please do not insult our intelligence and blame everything on the weather). Imagine if Booker Tate was efficient and all the land was planted??? The losses would have been even greater.
To the private farmers, I say be careful and cautions.
I thought it would have been common sense to have the new plant working properly before cannibalising the the working old factory. Seems as though Boker Tate has no common sense then….
GOD BLESS GUYANA AND THE NEW FACTORY… they need you.
Please do not be fooled the overseas consultants especially from the UK are not as good as you may think. I have lived and worked in the Uk for almost 20 years now and the systems over here are very inefficient.
……………………..raymond…………..a beg……… this is no joke…………..a beg to go home and help with this project……………….i was told by hr………..we can’t pay you………….but they can pay booker tate……………i have come to understand this thing before work start 10% of the top…………….load up the place with your supportors……….make them happy with a few trips…………so that they can stay and fight……………i amasking for a forensic audit in the department of agriculture…………department of education………….the department of home%@#&fairs……………….we want to know about our money ……………..how its spent on these projects…………..let us start from the top down……………….
Decisions made on assumptions!
And worse, decisions made on the basis of scanty information!
Truly the Government of Guyana is bereft of leadership skills.
This article shows the world what are fruits of cronyism and nepotism!
slither,slither and slide down we go like the snake and ladders game, roll a dice and take a chance.
But… never-mind their supporters (PPP) won’t know or understand what this article is highlighting.