Five months after the heavy duty knife turbine at the Uitvlugt Estate developed significant technical problems which delayed the start for the second crop at that estate, the probe into the incident is still to be completed.
Speaking to Stabroek News yesterday, the Guyana Sugar Corpora-tion’s (GuySuCo) Corpo-rate Communica-tions Manager Audreyanna Thomas said that as of Friday, the investigation was at the disciplinary hearing stage.
The August 11th, 2018 incident saw a turbine-fuelled sugar cane shredder speed out of control, bursting the belt and ejecting the shredder blades. While it has been suggested that the results of a preliminary assessment of the incident indicated that someone might have purposely tampered with the speed control of the belt, GuySuCo has said that it was being viewed as an “engineering matter.” Nonetheless, an investigation was initiated which was expected to be conducted over a three-week period.
Thomas told Stabroek News yesterday that the various personnel who were present at the time of the incident will be given a fair hearing to plead their case about what they might have been doing at the time. “People might have justifiable reasons for doing what they did and we need to give them an opportunity to provide that kind of information. So when the hearing is finished, depending on what comes out of it, then certain disciplinary actions (will be taken) which are required for the corporation,” she said. Thomas reiterated that if persons are found liable, then certain disciplinary actions which are required based on their disciplinary policy, will be taken. However, she said that at this point, she is unable to make any pronouncements about what could possibly happen.
She was also unable to give a timeframe on when the hearing would be completed but explained that it will move depending on the information they receive as it progresses.
Following the August 11 incident, an employee told this newspaper: “where it goes too speed, there is a safety mechanism [that is] is supposed to kick in, I am not sure if slow it down or stop it completely, but that unfortunately did not work and all the apparatus went flying out. Understand that the belt moves and the hammers cut up and crush up at the same time.
So there are about 70 knives or hammers and when that [incident] was finished, only about six were left.” The employee had said that based on a preliminary assessment, it appeared as if someone purposely tampered with the speed control for the belt.
