Maroc - NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - 15/Nov 04:17

Ashworth Jack: Studley Park will make bricks, enhance profitability

ALVA VIARRUEL The export of aggregate from Studley Park Enterprises Limited (SPEL) is “a major game changer” for Tobago to finally enjoy the benefits of its contribution of natural resources to the nation of Trinidad and Tobago. Former SPEL chairman Ashworth Jack made the declaration as he dismissed comments by former prime ministers Dr Keith Rowley and Stuart Young, that the plant could not meet local demand and was therefore unable to export. Dr Rowley and Young described the handing over of the licence by Prime Minister Kamla Persad Bissessar to Chief Secretary Farley Augustine at a special sitting of the THA on November 4 as “a pappyshow,” since the company did not have sufficient product to export and what it did produce was needed for infrastructure projects locally. In an interview with Newsday at his office at the Central Administrative Office Tobago (CAST), Jack, the new liaison co-ordinator for Tobago, said under his tenure, the company had already identified another site for mining aggregate, and when “the hill” at Studley Park was exhausted, then the mining operations should go under the surface “where the harder rock is to be found.” Jack said the export licence gives SPEL the ability to properly expand its operations. He also supported comments made Secretary of Infrastructure Trevor James, who noted that the former PNM administration had not made a request for Studley Park material for the past three years and the plant did in fact have sufficient material to export. “We (SPEL) had approached the banks to buy two pieces of equipment which are computerised to ensure production levels are maintained if one piece has an interruption in production for whatever reason, and they're capable of producing 450 tons of rock per hour. "The licence could now be used as collateral with the bank because they wanted to know how we selling the product in order to repay the loan, so this is their guarantee. Now that they have it, the company is actively pursuing the purchase of those two pieces and some heavy moving equipment to augment what exists on the site to cater for increased production." He estimates the cost of such acquisitions at TT$100 million, and, he stated boldly, “compared to what you’d make, that is small money.” Jack said when he was SPEL chairman, the company was not looking only towards export but also in the downstream products that could be made from the aggregate. Two examples of these are the production of concrete blocks and pavers. More than 18,000 concrete blocks per day on average are shipped to Tobago via the ferries because Tobago does not have its own brick factory, he said. Jack said the new equipment will “trap the dust” from the production of aggregate and because of the cementitious nature of the “world-class quality” rock, making concrete blocks and pavers will be more cost effective as it would require less cement. “The equipment that can be added to the plant will produce 10,000 to 16,000 blocks per day,” he said. “We have the product so now we need to add value to it and produce downstream products to the benefit of the people of Tobago.” Jack also recalled that under the Hochoy Charles administration of the THA, an Italian company had also tested and approved the dust as being of a quality suitable to make brake shoes. They imported the plant fixtures and fittings in containers but were never allowed to set up the plant by the incoming Orville London administration. The owners eventually sued the THA and won their case, he said. On the subject of the need for the material at Studley Park for national projects, Jack said he was at the Diplomatic Centre when the Prime Minister revealed plans to grow the economy recently “and it actually made me smile because I know that amount of road infrastructure and projects would mean that finally Studley Park aggregate will be used” profitably for Tobagonians. “Studley Park has some of the best material in the world, not just the region. But it’s more than just Studley Park now. We’ve tested another site and discussion has been had with the Chief Secretary to bring on another site based on demand for material,” Jack said. He noted that “in the Caribbean we only do surface mining but the lower you go, the harder the rock is. So we can go down beneath the surface at Studley Park and it’s not a case where when the hill is finished the material is done. It’s better to go down,” he said. The post Ashworth Jack: Studley Park will make bricks, enhance profitability appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.