-gearing up for EU sea defence contracts
Despite rainy weather, three earth-shaking blasts saw 100,000 tonnes of rock tumbling down as construction material supplier, BK Quarry showcased the company’s capabilities at its Teperu/Itabu, Mazaruni River location on Friday.
Machines sorting out the different rock sizes at the BK Quarry location at the Mazaruni River on Friday.
Construction giant, BK International Inc. – of which the company is a subsidiary, was recently awarded a contract for sea defence works being funded by the European Union (EU) and the blasts were the largest done since he began working with the company, General Manager, Dayaljee Persaud said. Representatives of the EU including Head of the European Commission Delegation, Ambassador Geert Heikens were on hand to witness the blasts. They were also there to look at the materials available, Persaud said.
The works will be done in Regions Two, Three, Four and Six, Persaud told reporters. He disclosed that the company is looking at improving production. Currently, he said, the operation is producing about 300,000 tonnes of aggregate per hour. He noted that they are in the process of doing some rehabilitation and reconstruction work at the location and the upgrade will make the operation more efficient.
Dust rises from the BK Quarry following one of three blasts on Friday.
The General Manager assured that the company is producing stone in reasonable quantities. He said that they are looking at taking production to another level with the establishment of another quarry.
Heikens, meantime, said that the works that the EU is funding are not just building new sea defences but also upgrading. He said that the EU had previous programmes with BK, mostly in sea defence work. Noting the many programmes that the EU was involved with in Guyana, the ambassador said that there is a “lot” in the pipeline for Guyana in the future. He disclosed that the EC hopes to commit $50M Euros to Guyana next year and this will cover the sugar support programme, sea defence programme and general budgetary support.
Meantime, the company also showcased its facilities at the Region Seven location and Heikens, noting that it was his second visit there, said it was amazing to see how it has developed. Following a tour of the site, Persaud said that it was the thrust of Managing Director of BK, Brian Tiwari, to make the company self-sufficient. This endeavour currently involves the cultivation of a pineapple farm which has over 4000 plants as well as citrus plants. Persaud said that in future, they will also embark on poultry production. At the location, there are in excess of 150 employees. Accommodation, meals and laundry services are provided free of cost. The company also facilitates a visiting medical team to Bartica where medical services are accessed. There is also an entertainment centre and bar where workers can access various games and socialize. But this is only permitted on the week-ends, Persaud said. The company has also constructed a police outpost at Teperu and handed it over to the Guyana Police Force.
The General Manager stated that the initiatives are all in the interest of making the workers more comfortable. “We do things that would make them want to stay here”, he said.
With all the millions of and billions of contracts, which gave rise to supremacy, it is no wonder BK is blasting off.
They are on top of the world, or the Guyanese world.
kEEPING MY FINGERS ON THIS DEVELOPEMENT!
this is not development, just Guyanese overseas sending money home to build homes, which remains empty half of the year. No new industries nor business which pay real wages are being created.
…. in all of the funds wasted ,, they will still have to RE-LOCATE
the city ,, the GOVT and any of those who have the foresight to make sense of what the “climate change” means !….
the agreement at the summit will reverse it.
the poles will start freezing again.
Its not only the issue of relocating the city., but also the unsustainable costs of maintaining the flood prevention systems and the flood prone coastal communities, considering, most of the population, industry, commerce, etc., lies on the coastal area of the country below sea level.
It is ironic, while there are constant and repeated floodings in the coastal areas, with billions of dollars being loss in crops, livestocks, property, lives and other values., there is a lack of any significant effort on the part of the government to incentivise coastal dwellers, to settle and develop the untapped and large fertile interior areas of the country – away,from the unsustainable flood prone coastal areas.
The international financial institutions and agencies; have a responsibility to ensure the nation is not forever strapped with unsustainable – ‘band aid measures’ and debts to deal with the constant floodings of the coastal communities., but to also emphasise and encourage – development and settlement of the more sustainable interior areas of the country.
Good job BK,,,Number 1 in Guyana…
i going home back for my job with BK.
I remember as a child we visted St.Mary’s Quarry owned by Toolsie Persaud Ltd and was in awe of the mega blast they did on a daily basis…. very nice vacation time……..
Think you made a mistake relative to production rate is 300,000 tonnes /hr. Based on my study of this quarry, this figure should be 3,000 tonnes/hr or less. Please check your facts carefully!!!
Story should also mentioned that most of the work is done by ex Guymine employees. Hope my comment will be placed in your paper but I doubt same.
Gordon
Mining Engineer
…. Gordo ,, 300,000 tons is from the initial blast ,, not from the stones produced ,, from the crusher ! to begin with ,, they don’t — no quarry in GUYANA has the ability to produce the latter in a day much less an hour !… simple calculatins breds ,, but ur mind is in the right place ! relative to ur observation !….
Michael, the article mentioned quote” the quarry is producing 300,000 tonnes of aggregate per hour” which is impossible. In addtion use of the term aggregate per hour is synonymous of production from a unit plant operations not from a quarry pit!Hence my query. Relative to the blast, there were 3[ per Stabroek News] and based on the pix in the article, it appears that there were inefficient due to the amount of dust generated by stemming flying out of the drill hole during ignition.
My basis query still remains the same, what is the accurate plant production 3000- or 300 tonnes/hour, I believe the correct figure is 300 tonnes/ hr not 300,000 tonnes/hour? Could Stabroek New please quote/publish the correct figure? Thanks.
Despite the above comments, I think believe BK is to be applauded in investing in Teperu. Just one piece of advice, concentrate on the quarry and not farming [noticed one major paragraph was on farming which is not a good sign for a " major quarry"] as you may be losing your objective of a major stone producer [ old Guymine Kwakwani inside joke]. Noticed no mention was made of sand production as an additional revenue stream.
Gordon
Mining Engineer
… Gordo truth be told i did not read the article ,, since what is now being given in this soon to be a rag as ‘journalism’ ,, don’t have what it takes to hold my interest ,, it’s purely a waste of my time ,, i scan cursorily ,, and the comment si find intersting i leave my hoof on it ! beyond anything else ,, i just add jest to some of the comments ,, to inject some humour ,, for the benefit of the crowd and i leave ,, if during the course of the day ,, i find the time i would be in and ut like i’m doin now ,, and i have to say that ure correct ,, and i would have to agree with u that it’s more like 3,000 ton/hr ,, and that would be metric tons !…
Good observation. The blast is far removed from the final product. Teperu was initially a three stage operation ,that is primary secondary and tertiary crushers.The aspiration was to run Toolsie Persaud and Itabu out of business.I unpacked that plant.