The Guyana Sugar Corporation says it is continuing to work “closely” with the Chinese contractor for the US$110M Skeldon estate factory to address all operational issues.

In a statement, GuySuCo was responding to a report in yesterday’s Sunday Stabroek headlined ‘Skeldon factory still not receiving sufficient cane’ and which detailed the problems that had been detected by Tate and Lyle Sugars in a report of April 2009.

“We wish to remind that the project is still in the defects liability stage and the corporation remains committed to ensuring that all concerns, as they arise are highlighted and addressed in the shortest possible time”, the statement said.

It said that during this period various ideas for the improvement in equipment for the future sustainability of the factory have been floated and the contractor, CNTIC is being engaged with the aim of having the viable suggestions adopted.

“With regard to achieving the full cane supply for the factory, the corporation wishes to restate that it is confident the target of 2011 will be realized”, the statement added.

It said this confidence stems from the intense field work done by both the corporation and private farmers, particularly during the dry spell in the second half of last year. The corporation said its work plans are geared towards continuing this.

The report by Tate and Lyle Sugars in April 2009, was completed after a visit to the factory, and underlined problems with the diffuser in addition to issues with the bagasse ploughs and to a lesser extent, the punt dumper.

The report also mentioned that Chinese contractors at the factory were observed programming in their language.

The report said the diffuser at the factory was designed and installed with no PH correction facility, and it also observed that the diffuser was suffering from frequent flooding.  It suggested that engineers at the factory adjust the recirculation sprays to an angle to achieve percolation within the destination cell, but it noted that the operational management team was not familiar with this procedure.

Further, the report stated that visibility inside the diffuser was poor and suggested installing proper lighting and wash sprays on windows to aid visibility. It said too that there are no observation points on top of the diffuser and indicated that manholes are required to check for channelling, poor juice percolation and non-uniform juice distribution which cause flooding.

Tate and Lyle said also that bagasse ploughs for boiler feed chutes are adjusted manually at the Skeldon factory and observed “ploughs were not designed to adjust automatically”.

The report said persons are stationed at the chutes to adjust ploughs and clear blockages with ‘ram sticks’. It continued that plough automation was critical for optimum and efficient boiler operations.

The Skeldon factory was a turnkey project between government and the China National Technology Import and the Export Corporation (CNTIC), which was to be handed over in October 2008, one in a string of missed deadlines. The administration was said to have filed for liquidated damages, but information has not been forthcoming on this despite many enquiries. Additionally, the new factory was beset by mechanical problems during the initial operating period.

GuySuCo’s statement yesterday did not refer to the specific problems raised in the report.