The company is also exploring the possibility of establishing a blending plant in Guyana.
The Romix team, along with local engineers attached to the Ministry of Public Works, conducted the test run on a 1 kilometre stretch of road between Ituni and Kwakwani last week. It was witnessed by Region 10 Chairman Mortimer Mingo. Several heavily laden vehicles were afforded the opportunity to drive on the road, which was ready for use immediately after compacting. Many were amazed at the fact that the road produced no dust or wheel impressions.
The teams took time to demonstrate the stages of the proposed road construction despite having to grapple with the unavailability of the correct machinery to execute the job. The test run, which began about noon, concluded shortly after sunset. “The time consumed today would have been cut by half if only we had the correct equipment here to do the job,” said Romix Managing Director Pieter Prinsloo.
Earlier in the year, Prinsloo had been here to oversee trials of Romix’s Polymex road construction products on the Mabura road. Prinsloo said then that the choice of the Mabura road was intended to demonstrate that the technology could be applied “on some of the most challenging surfaces,” and he was optimistic that the trials could persuade Guyana to embrace the Polymer option, which could also be an option for the Linden/Lethem road.
According to Prinsloo, the Romix Polymer road construction mixture is very environmentally friendly and has an emulsion base. He said that it is very cost effective and is 40% cheaper than the traditional method.
Prinsloo said Romix agreed to do the second test run in an area where the soil structure was different from that of the Mabura road. The soil on the Ituni road was predominantly clay bauxite capping and reddish laterite. The soil on the Mabura road is mainly laterite. “We wanted to assure the Government that our product can work in all the soil types in Guyana,” Prinsloo added. He said based on the government’s satisfaction, he hopes to set up a mixing plant in Linden. Additionally Romix is poised to set up offices in Linden and Georgetown in 2010.
Optimistic that the Romix Polymer road construction technique can work well in Guyana, Mingo noted the importance of having the stretch of road from Linden to Kwakwani addressed in a timely and cost effective way. He note that the road provides “ingress and egress” to persons residing and conducting businesses in the Ituni, Kwakwani and Aroaima communities and also many communities along the Berbice River that have been faced with the challenge of extensively bad roads over the years.
Mingo said that the Region 10 Regional Democratic Council became interested when it learnt of the new approach and its cost effectiveness from the Ministry of Public Works. “If this proves successful and speaks to minimum maintenance, the RDC would be inclined to incorporate it into our work programme. What is good is that this industry speaks to direct readily availability of product,” he added.
He noted the company’s interest in establishing a plant in Linden and said it would be a welcome enterprise and would play a pivotal role in providing an economic recovery for the town.
