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All cement produced between Feb 19 & 25 now recalled
BALFORD HENRY, Observer writer
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
ALL cement produced by the Caribbean Cement Company at its plant in Rockfort, Kingston between February 19 and 25 is to be withdrawn following the failure of samples to meet the compulsory standards set by the Bureau of Standards.
Minister of Commerce, Science and Technology Phillip Paulwell, in a statement yesterday, said the cement company and the bureau agreed on the recall as "at least one sample did not meet the consistency and compressive strength required by the compulsory standard".
Paulwell, said the statement, has instructed the bureau to widen its investigations to include construction sites, hardware stores and batching plants to ensure that all stocks met the compulsory standards. He also urged purchasers of cement, dated February 19 to 25, to return the product to the supplier and make a report to the Bureau of Standards or the Consumer Affairs Commission. He promised that there would be full compensation.
In the meantime, Paulwell told the House of Representatives that 100,000 tonnes of cement are expected to be imported into the island by the end of March to reduce the current shortage.
He said that since the tariff was reduced last week, from 40 per cent to 15 per cent, the Trade Board has recommended to the minister of finance, based on applications, that 36,000 tonnes will be imported during the next couple of weeks.
"Applications are still coming in and my own estimation is that by the end of this week we should see applications for over 100,000 tonnes," he added.
The minister was responding to questions raised by Opposition members, led by spokesman on finance and the public service, Audley Shaw, about the current cement shortage.
"The Opposition would like to know from government what has happened beyond the announcement made by the minister of commerce and technology of the reduction in the duties on imported cement?" asked Shaw.
He said that the crisis was two-fold: (1) a serious shortage of cement in the country and (2), a clear and present danger that buildings, whether being put up by the private sector or being put up by the public sector, the safety and security and the integrity of these buildings could be compromised by the quality of cement being provided.
"It is not good enough for minister of commerce and technology to hold a press conference outside of House to announce something that the minister of finance has in fact has a responsibility to announce in this Honourable House," Shaw said. He asked that the minister provide a "clear and explicit statement" on the state of the cement industry in Jamaica.
Paulwell, in his response, advised the House that the Bureau of Standards informed him yesterday that all the cement imported into the island, since the shortage started late 2005, have all met local compulsory standards.
He said that the only issue has been 500 tonnes of cement produced locally by the Caribbean Cement Company which has raised quality concerns. He said, however, that the Bureau of Standards has ordered that the whole 500 tonnes be withdrawn and purchasers adequately compensated.
"We have determined, based on some batch testing we are doing that the period.when that batch of 500 tonnes were produced, there were some amount of cement bagged. We instructed the cement company today to withdraw all of that production," Paulwell explained. But, as most of that cement would have been used by now, persons who used the cement would have to be fully compensated and a system to do the proper checks to make sure that claims can be verified was being put in place.
"We are endeavouring to ensure that all steps are taken to protect consumers, to protect the construction industry and to say to you that every step of the way," said Paulwell. "The bureau has been involved in the supervision," he added.
He that in regards to other production, the bureau had done checks and found them to be wholesome.
But, Paulwell warned that "there is an international problem affecting the entire region", and there is going to be an application for reduction of the CET (common external tariff) on cement to allow more imports into the region
All cement produced between Feb 19 & 25 now recalled