Transport and Works Minister Julian Francis presented his Budget 2020 Debate from several perspectives. Chief amongst those was his assertion that at “the base of our development there’s an important thing called aggregate.”
According to him local government owned a crusher that was leased out to the private sector when his Unity Labour Party formed government in 2001. However development plans coming on stream which were set in motion by the previous New Democratic Party administration meant that “the Lowmans Quarry was phased out which DIPCON was running on behalf of the government.”
Since this time, Minister Francis told Parliament, “the aggregate production apart from Rabacca was handled by the private sector.”
“When we started building the Argyle International Airport, because we had to move 3 mountains in which there was a lot of stone we thought it best to buy a crusher, crush the stone and produce yo own aggregate. Buy a hot mix asphalt plant [and] buy a concrete batching plant. That is why the 1.3 million dollars that you all value it at, Mr Stewart your chief engineer on the NDP who said it would never open! That’s why it only cost us 745 million dollars. That crusher in 7 years worked 23 crushing years because it was 3 shifts per day – 3 eight hour shifts 24/7 to build that airport. Yo see how we save money pon de international airport? But at the end ah it the crusher ain’t no good. So you have to put the crusher costs into it. The crusher then cost $3 million. The ancillary for preparing it, to put it down, the footings and everything else – another 1.5 so that crusher cost us – so add that into the cost of the airport. But if we had to buy asphalt hot mix from the private sector and by aggregate from the private sector the airport would have cost us a lot more money.”
But if we had to buy asphalt hot mix from the private sector and by aggregate from the private sector the airport would have cost us a lot more money.”
To carry out the government’s ambitious 2020 work programme “we have to import aggregate and the quicker we understand it and accept it the better for us because the two private sector crushers that we have, one is on its way out – up for sale and the other one, if 10 trucks line up there for aggregate from 8 o’clock until 4 o’clock, three of them might get aggregate.”
Minister Francis said his search for aggregate begun since October last year. This was occasioned by his Cabinet proposal to establish a crusher in North Leeward suffered from a litany of delays although it was approved since July 2019. Dominica, Martinique, Guadelope, and St. Lucia are all places the Minister said he checked for potential suppliers but quantities in those territories were not sufficient for local and export markets he explained. Francis then clarified that a further idea is being explored in his hunt for aggregate. “We went as far as Nova Scotia – Barbados is looking for 41000 tons of aggregate, Barbados! So we even discussed the matter of piggy backing on this big ship that can carry about 65000 tons. So we’ll get them, do the order together, they’ll drop off what they have to drop off in Barbados and come down here.
But they have a conveyor on the ship that discharges 5000 tons of aggregate per hour. A conveyor and it can’t land at any of the jetties we have here – the wharf. It’s an ocean going [vessel] so you have to get another roll on roll off a barge – go out in the ocean and let them discharge …” Francis said as he pointed out more logistics involved in getting the aggregate landed and ready for use.
“We went as far as Nova Scotia – Barbados is looking for 41000 tons of aggregate, Barbados! So we even discussed the matter of piggy backing on this big ship that can carry about 65000 tons. So we’ll get them, do the order together, they’ll drop off what they have to drop off in Barbados and come down here.
But they have a conveyor on the ship that discharges 5000 tons of aggregate per hour. A conveyor and it can’t land at any of the jetties we have here – the wharf. It’s an ocean going [vessel] so you have to get another roll on roll off a barge – go out in the ocean and let them discharge …” Francis said as he pointed out more logistics involved in getting the aggregate landed and ready for use.
Francis reiterated the necessity of importing the aggregate as he announced that this phase in satisfying the local aggregate demand would be “short lived.” This he said is because “there is a crusher on the port, landed. They are now – the last report I got as of 6:30 this morning – is that there’s an agreement for signature of an existing quarry site. The deal has not gone through yet but that document is with the vendor and their lawyers. That is not going to give us aggregate next month because it has to be set up, luckily it is a quarry that operated in the past. So that there’s land easily cleared to put in this crusher.”
That is not going to give us aggregate next month because it has to be set up, luckily it is a quarry that operated in the past. So that there’s land easily cleared to put in this crusher.”
The Transport and Works Boss also told Parliament that three site visits were made “on the weekend” to ascertain location suitability “because twinning with this is the matter of the asphalt and concrete batching plants. A lot of these PAVE roads are concrete [and] because of their remote locations you have to mix by barrow and shovel.”
A lot of these PAVE roads are concrete [and] because of their remote locations you have to mix by barrow and shovel.”
Establishing a concrete batching plant is therefore as essential as procuring cost effective aggregate, the Minister sought to convey in his address. He pointed to the fact that one is already set up at the Royal Mills Resort construction site “but a 12 story hotel [being built] out of concrete – they can’t spare no concrete to sell me to go and patch road and build road.” Francis then relayed his experiences to date in his search for a place to re-instate the asphalt hot mix and concrete batching that have gone dormant since the AIA construction phase was largely completed. “I have been fighting and begging and beseeching communities in this country for us to stop the destruction of two vital pieces of equipment that the government owns. A hot mix asphalt plant and a concrete batching plant that’s sitting at Argyle rusting away.”
Francis recalled going to citizens living at Yamboo who rejected the proposal to house the heavy equipment in their community as did residents of Gibson Corner.
“To get the road programme going I need a batching plant and a hot mix asphalt plant to fix the roads, so we have to put them somewhere. That is where I went Sunday. I ain’t saying where I going put it yet. Ah fraid to say, ok? Really, ah fraid to say. But I guarantee you I will find somewhere where nobody live and nobody will say that they don’t want it and it go poison them.”
But I guarantee you I will find somewhere where nobody live and nobody will say that they don’t want it and it go poison them.”
Reverting to the recently landed crusher Minister Francis continued his update saying “I invited the person who landed the crusher last week to visit with me; he said it’s too far away, said he wants it closer to town because at Richmond you have to still use a boat to get that aggregate to the population of St. Vincent because of the terrain and the roads. So we have an interested party and just two days ago our last discussion is that the final proposal, that has been to Cabinet, Cabinet has approved it in principle [and] we’re now working out on the numbers. Not numbers with regards to what they have to pay but numbers in regards to what they’re going to do, how long it’s going to take them and so on. But I guarantee you, you’re not going to get crushed aggregate out of that one when it gets going before November.”
Not numbers with regards to what they have to pay but numbers in regards to what they’re going to do, how long it’s going to take them and so on. But I guarantee you, you’re not going to get crushed aggregate out of that one when it gets going before November.”
Francis as he began to conclude his discourse on the aggregate issue pointed to the fact that the local business community is now stepping up in response to the increased demand for aggregate. “Just last week a proposal came to Cabinet from another contractor in St. Vincent who has leased two quarries on the North Eastern side of the country. And his proposal is to establish two crushers…”
The Minister then paid some attention to the aggregate that is being mined at the Rabacca site saying “I hear all kind of commentaries on Facebook from those who own land out there and all kind ah ting ‘weh we have to import aggregate for because Rabacca full ah aggregate.’ Rabacca aggregate would not be used for this type of construction –road construction and reinforced slab construction. Down below floor slab on fill, you can use it. Building your little residential house, you can use it; the aggregate there is too inconsistent.
I brought a gentleman here the first year we when were in office, Julian Cleeton, a quarry expert out of England and he did an assessment of all the aggregates and quarries that we had. He rated them – stands in the Ministry of Works.
And he said to me ‘you have a vast resource here but it’s only useful for residential and light construction. ’
Before, every single qualified engineer in this country and consultant rejects the Rabacca aggregate for that type of construction; so none of the feeder roads would be used with that.”
I brought a gentleman here the first year we when were in office, Julian Cleeton, a quarry expert out of England and he did an assessment of all the aggregates and quarries that we had. He rated them – stands in the Ministry of Works.
And he said to me ‘you have a vast resource here but it’s only useful for residential and light construction. ’
Before, every single qualified engineer in this country and consultant rejects the Rabacca aggregate for that type of construction; so none of the feeder roads would be used with that.”
Two other locally available options exist but one would cost an estimated $3 million just to provide access to the site and the other contains orgasmic causing stone according to the Minister. “Richmond is an ideal site; there’s 50 or 60 years of hard rock down there. I told you all in this House already when the guy came and saw it he had six orgasms just looking at the stone!” It is unclear whether these options are still being reviewed or have been summarily rejected.
Francis told Parliament his Budget address was his way of “giving Vincentians an insight as to where we are to achieve what the Honourable Minister of Finance has put forward to us. And I am not going to sit by and allow this to fall flat because we are not producing aggregate. We have to import the aggregate. Whether it’s from Nova Scotia or Georgia we will import aggregate here and start the construction boom very very soon. 6000 tons coming, the Minister has put $2 million revolving fund in the Estimates and that would give us a good start.”
And I am not going to sit by and allow this to fall flat because we are not producing aggregate. We have to import the aggregate. Whether it’s from Nova Scotia or Georgia we will import aggregate here and start the construction boom very very soon. 6000 tons coming, the Minister has put $2 million revolving fund in the Estimates and that would give us a good start.”
Minister Francis further advised Parliament that he might have been able to wrangle some aggregate from “the people who are doing the feeder roads under the Kuwait [funded project who] just took over the crusher in Grenada.” His negotiations (for 6000 – 10000 tons of aggregate) were aided by the fact that these same contractors have been awarded an approximated $90 million project here. “So I’m playing with that and it seems like we would get some aggregate out of that,” Francis who is also the Unity Labour Party’s General Secretary said.
“So I’m playing with that and it seems like we would get some aggregate out of that,” Francis who is also the Unity Labour Party’s General Secretary said.
