Edghill, Patterson hangs swords over an asphalt plant
– state several technical problems identified
The new asphalt plant at Garden of Eden, East Bank Demerara.
Kaieteur News – Public Infrastructure Minister Juan Edghill dispels former Minister David Patterson’s claims that the new asphalt factory at Demerara East Bank’s Garden of Eden is fully operational.
Patterson had released a scathing statement condemning the discovery of a special probe into the project that revealed a number of damning issues related to the management of the plant.
The plant had come under Patterson’s watch, while the Coalition Government was in office from May 2015 to August 2020.
Public Infrastructure Minister Juan Edghill.
However, contrary to the claims by Patterson, that he had been “reliably informed that the plant was fully operational”, Minister Edghill said the plant was still a work in progress. He explained in a letter to the editor, that a German engineer had to re-check many aspects of the work before the system was tested last December.
According to the Minister, the tests were carried out and found that three of the systems were not functioning, thus rendering the structure inactive to date.
“The systems that are not currently operating are the burner system, the bitumen weighing scale and the granular system,” he said, adding “currently the burner is not working because of a software controller, which must be configured for use of diesel fuel. ”
Edghill also noted that the pressure rating of the bitumen of the asphalt plant could not be tested because it was not possible to operate two load cells due to moisture.
Similarly, he noted that the granular system is unable to function due to a load cell that needs to be replaced.
Given the problems with the factory, Edghill revealed that the Factory Engineer left Guyana on January 04, 2021 and is expected to be back by mid-February for final testing and training of the engineers and machine operators.
“Finally, let me conclude by saying that the primary functions of the asphalt plant are drying, heating and cleaning aggregates facilitated by the thermal energy of the burner, by communicating with the BLS 3000. The BLS 3000 is the operational software of the asphalt plant .
Due to the above issues (software and electronic components), the plant is not yet fully operational, ”Edghill noted.
In addition, the Minister made it clear that the findings were reported to the factory and the Germans will bear the component costs, given that the structure has not yet been commissioned.