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Control panel needed to operate PWP incinerator to be shipped by month-end, says minister

The incinerator at Pockwood Pond on Tortola.

The replacement control panel needed for the incinerator at Pockwood Pond to become operational again is expected to be shipped to the British Virgin Islands by the end of the month.

This assurance was given by Minister of Health Carvin Malone during a statement in the House of Assembly last Thursday, October 1. 

The minister said he and other officials had met with the owner of incinerator manufacturer Consutech Systems LLC in Washington DC this month. Following those conversations, Malone said he received a letter of correspondence from the owner.

An excerpt from the letter which the minister read in the House of Assembly said: “The control panel is nearly completed and will be ready for shipping on or before October 31, 2019. As discussed, we will make our field service technician available to assist in the installation.”

“Personnel will be dispatched before the final payment for the control panel is set, to make sure that we will see it and have it tested so that we can have this work finished to bring relief to the people of the British Virgin Islands,” the Minister further said.

March completion date promised for scrubber system

In the said letter, the owner also revealed that the scrubber system — a device used to filter the harmful smoke that emits from the incinerator — is expected to be completed by March next year.

“We are working towards having the scrubber system completed in the first quarter of 2020 … This is the very scrubber that was ordered since 2015 but we have held negotiations with the company and there are now prepared to move this forward,” Minister Malone stated.

The absence of a scrubber at the incinerator for some time has resulted in a number of residents in nearby communities experiencing health issue from smoke incessant emissions.

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14 Comments

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  1. 3rd world country says:

    Moving at glacial pace to solve life threatening issues for their residents..

    Like 14
  2. vip heckler says:

    The minister too is a waste

    Like 10
  3. Windy says:

    And the check is in the mail. Do they realize that only 1 week away ?

  4. Bvi people says:

    Your ministers and government are avoiding the facts. A new control panel on a burned structure on a burned incinerator in a burned tipping area. Has anyone questioned the life of the incinerator and how many years has gone into its life thus far? Y put a brand new control panel on a system that is burned? Y put an incinerator back to work that is still causing harmful, cancerous emissions? Y rebuild an incinerator that will be abused once like how it was destroyed before? Do a study and find out what sicknesses come from open fire burning In an incinerator!! This is becoming a criminal act on our government’s behalf….

    Like 12
    Dislike 1
  5. Quiet Warrior says:

    Is the control panel and scrubber off the shelf items or they have to be manufactured? If so why did the territory installed a system that replacement parts are not readily available for? Is the incinerator obsolete? Is it a dinosaur? If the control panel is a critical, long lead time item, why was not at least one on the shelf? The VI is remote from major markets so it cannot depend on just in time delivery and should have a high/low limit inventory on board for critical items.

    Like 12
    • SHKE says:

      The acquisition of major equipment/system(s) should include initial operational and maintenance training, along with ongoing training. Additionally, as QW noted and since the VI is remote from major markets and just-in-time (JIT) delivery is not available, it should be a standard operating procedure(SOP) that a high/low inventory on parts for critical equipment/system should be established and maintained, if the item is not readily available on the local market.

      Government, along with the private sector, must be leary of acquiring equipment/system/machinery that is no longer being manufactured, though it may appear more affordable. If the equipment/system/machinery is no longer being manufactured, it is highly likely that replacement parts may not be no longer manufactured.

      • Boo says:

        Everybody is a critic. Do you think you can walk into your neighborhood Walmart or Lowes and pick up an incinerator?

        These things are specially manufactured to specifications when ordered and money paid. Manufacture entails design and coordination of multiple suppliers along a complex chain to produce the end product.

        Spares are the same process. There is not incinerator sales and parts store where you just waltz in and pick up a new one, parts or supplies.

        In terms of a New Incinerator if you have 30 or 40 mill then yeh just walk into Incinerators r Us and pick a new one on your next vacay.

        Unless anybody else hasn’t noticed we aren’t in the best financial shape and still can’t get this UK/RDA thing to work yet. Come on. If it was actually that simple it would have been solved ages ago.

        • What a load says:

          Of BS excuses for piss poor management.7 YEARS to get a scrubber…?…Give me break. If you having trouble getting something in the USA it’s not because of multiple suppliers and complex chains it’s because you haven’t paid for it.
          If you have. Vital equipment buy spare parts..
          Oh and try not to set it on fire in the first place

  6. Ha Ha says:

    And I oop.

  7. Oh march on with the lies says:

    Another work place that is filled with #vippayrollspies.

  8. .... says:

    Sickening. 1m on a wall. couple million on the peir park. Few million missing on the airline. no biggy.

    Since we have money to burn how about pay someone 1m to come up with a ideal solution to this problem that does not include giving residents cancer.

  9. Relief??? says:

    Wheres the scrubber?
    A toxic fire with a chimney is still a toxic fire..
    https://www.bvibeacon.com/seven-years-later-wheres-the-scrubber/

  10. 1234 says:

    Malone is an i***t who isn’t fit for office

  11. eco-solutions says:

    As a Waste to Energy incinerator builder we know these items have to be custom engineered to match the waste stream it will be used for.

    An incinerator of the size and scope used here could easily cost more than $1 million USD. But the delivery timeline should be around 1 year, 2 years at most.

    At the same time there needs to be properly trained personnel to watch over the operation of the unit. If you have piles of waste in front of the incinerator and something causes it to catch fire you can have a catastrophe on your hands

    Nowadays even something as simple as a discarded cell phone battery can cause a fire like this.

    If the incinerator is properly designed there is no reason for emissions to be a problem. We regularly meet stringent European and US EPA requirements during burn testing.

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