Health Minister fumes at incinerator contractor’s lapses

Health Minister Carvin Malone has lashed out at the contractor responsible for replacing proprietary equipment at the Pockwood Pond incinerator plant in the wake of yet another disastrous fire at the facility.

The government inked a deal with Consutech Systems LLC in 2019 for the replacement of a control panel as well as other equipment after a 2018 fire.

But Malone, who has responsibility for waste management, said the government has not been pleased with the deliverables.

“This incinerator has been plagued with issues. The conveyor belt needs to be replaced, we provided the money and the delivery of it is not in a manner which we are pleased,” Malone said recently.

“This is the same company which we were having issues in terms of the scrubber [device used to filter noxious fumes emitting from the incinerator] and internal conveyor belt so we are looking in terms of how we can get this done in a manner which makes sense to the public, to us, and in terms of safety for proper disposal of waste,” the Health Minister stated.

He added: “The actual scrubber is a story of four, five, six years. We’re not pleased with that. Other major equipment that this company should be sending, we are not pleased with the delivery of these but we will keep pushing because it is proprietary equipment so only that company could supply those particular parts.”