The $650 million Garden of Eden Batch Mix Asphalt Plant is expected to be operational by April 6 and according to Minister of Public Works Juan Edghill it will be run under separate management from the Demerara Harbour Bridge Corporation (DHBC).
This announcement was made on Friday when Edghill met with the Chairman of the DHBC, Ravie Ramcharitar and other senior officers at the site.
“Importantly, we are separating the activities of the bridge from the plant. The one board of directors will oversee the Demerara Harbour Bridge Corpora-tion… which the asphalt plant falls under but there will be a separate management team at the asphalt plant. Separate and distinct from the harbour bridge,” Edghill said. “I have instructed today (Friday) that we have a wider pool of persons to be trained and equipped for the management of the plant, nobody should have a monopoly or leverage the company by their skill. We must have multiple persons capable of doing the same thing, so training across, whether it is mechanical, electrical or operators. We must have several people with the same knowledge, so that in the event of anything we have several people who can make the necessary interventions,” he stated.
Edghill also disclosed that applications have been received and shortlisted for a Plant Manager. This process has been advanced, according to the minister, and a new manager is expected to be named soon.
In October, 2020, a team was appointed to investigate alleged financial misconduct at the DHBC’s Asphalt Plant. While there was no substantial evidence that there was financial misconduct at the DHBC’s Asphalt Plant, the team found poor internal controls which needed to be corrected in order to prevent the multiple discrepancies that were unearthed. Hence, the decision to have separate management for the new plant.
During Friday’s visit, the plant was assessed for its readiness for operation. Ramcharitar noted that it is environmentally friendly and more efficient in the production and usage of materials. This, he said, is expected to bring some cost savings, however, “that has to be evaluated very carefully and we would decide upon that after maybe two weeks of full commercial operations.” He further said that the relevant personnel will be trained to ensure that they can operate and properly manage the plant, with the training to be facilitated by the German contractor in the near future.
Edghill explained that the plant will allow for more efficiency in road construction and he called on the private sector to keep up. He said the government does not intend to put the private sector out of business but “we want to ensure that we are part of the competition, if not the gold standard, in terms of setting the price on the market because once we are able to economically reduce cost of production of asphalt, it means the cost of a road could go down.”
Additionally, monies have been allocated for a new scale at plant, Edghill said that this decision was important since the recent findings of an audit revealed that weighing of asphalt was being done at the DHBC, which is notably miles away from the plant, according to a Ministry of Public Works statement.
Ramcharitar explained that a total of $590 million has so far been spent on the project. “…A further $60 million thereabout needs to be spent or paid. The total investment is expected to be $650 million on this equipment and auxiliary services,” he said.
