Health Minister fumes at incinerator contractor’s lapses
Health Minister Carvin Malone has lashed out at the contractor responsible for replacing proprietary equipment at the Pockwood Pond incinerator plant in the wake of yet another disastrous fire at the facility.
The government inked a deal with Consutech Systems LLC in 2019 for the replacement of a control panel as well as other equipment after a 2018 fire.
But Malone, who has responsibility for waste management, said the government has not been pleased with the deliverables.
“This incinerator has been plagued with issues. The conveyor belt needs to be replaced, we provided the money and the delivery of it is not in a manner which we are pleased,” Malone said recently.
“This is the same company which we were having issues in terms of the scrubber [device used to filter noxious fumes emitting from the incinerator] and internal conveyor belt so we are looking in terms of how we can get this done in a manner which makes sense to the public, to us, and in terms of safety for proper disposal of waste,” the Health Minister stated.
He added: “The actual scrubber is a story of four, five, six years. We’re not pleased with that. Other major equipment that this company should be sending, we are not pleased with the delivery of these but we will keep pushing because it is proprietary equipment so only that company could supply those particular parts.”
Pockwood Pond waste facility fully inoperable
Minister Malone said Monday’s fire was a significant setback to plans being made to have the incinerator fixed and expressed that the plant was now fully inoperable.
He also frowned on the fact that there is now a ‘zero treatment capacity’ at Pockwood Pond because two incinerators had now been damaged.
Waste treatment upgrade being explored
Meanwhile, Malone said officials have also been examining ways of upgrading the solid waste treatment in the BVI.
The government signed a $400,000 contract in August last year through the Recovery and Development Agency (RDA) with Wood Group UK Ltd for the designs and ultimate contracting of a modern means for managing waste in the territory.
According to a government release, the contract entailed a feasibility study to develop a sustainable and modern landfill that contributes to a responsible and circular management of waste within the BVI.
The Health Minister shared a glint of optimism after noting that he had spoken to agents at the RDA who are overseeing the process and said they will reach out to the Wood Group so that the process to get equipment in can be fast-tracked.
“We can hasten that particular contract for the specification of the drawing so that we can then send this out to bid and get this equipment in as soon as we could,” the minister said.
“We are in the advanced stages of it and we’ll have to now propel it even more now that [a fire] has occurred again,” he added. “The quicker that we can get the new plant in or the refurbishment of this plant then the better for everyone involved.”
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So he waits for everything to fall apart to do/say anything? Shameful – your JOB is to stay on top of this stuff and make sure we get value for money. Shame on you!
Everything this particular minister handles are in shambles.. Hospital, garbage, morgue to name a few
Then why keep using the same company?????
Because it’s proprietary equipment it’s clearly stated in the article.
if he wasn’t so focused on covid he could have done a better job on this and other things
We DO NOT want to hear excuses. The UK Loan Guarantee and other assistance was on the table and you didn’t take it. You brag about spending $12 mil on COVID and your government wasted another $6 mil on fake farmers and fishermen. We don’t want to hear no f**king story about contractor. With all the money that you have spent in the last 3 years we should have had a brand new incinerator by now. It’s SICKENING the level of incompetence of this bunch. We got the Government we deserved and I’m not sure if we realize that!
I am sure he told us the scrubber was to be delivered in Feb 2021
But the company went belly up! And now what? Where is the deposit for the scrubber? Those $$$ are never coming back.
Do only idiots get elected in the BVI or is it idiots only vote for idiots? This has gone on for donkey years. Stupidity at all levels.
The latter.
Who do you think voted for the current Premier.
I am so happy ?, now they don’t have the choice to either fix it or destroy it and get something new that work. You know SOMETHING NEW THAT WORK.
When is the law suit?
The Premier was on record recently bragging and boasting that his Government will be meeting with the UK weekly until they get the Marijuana Legislation passed. Now let’s look at this for a minute, he has time to engage the UK weekly on Marijuana but no engagement on the state of emergency that is happening with respect to waste management/disposal? This is a massive health hazard waiting to happen. Additionally, we can expect the same nonsense with the ganja act as we are experiencing with the gaming act, pure back to front actions. They talk and talk, passed legislation and now seeking a consultant to assist with setting up the gaming commission etc. Shouldn’t the consultant be involved at the drafting stage so that everything is included in the legislation? Ok let’s say the ganja act passes tomorrow, then what? You can barely plant food here because the soil is horrible and the weather is not conducive to massive cropping. It is clear as a bright sunny day that the Premier and his minions think we are all idiots who only attended Sunday School.
Read below for the HINT:
Maybe we should pry a bit deeper and find out why he pushing this marijuana thing so hard now. We wont be surprised by what we find. The greed just might become a need. Who are the investors in this marijuana business? Or rather, who are the players? Players is a better word. Start there.
The latter.
Who do you think voted for the current Premier.
Talk about and out of control BVI…. Hitting rock bottom…. How can this ineptness still be going on in the 21st century! Lord send HELP.. We need it BIG time! Is it ever going to change?
We had need to borrow that money from the UK when we had the chance