The Tribune

By AVA TURNQUEST

Tribune Chief Reporter

aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

UPGRADES at the Gladstone Road Feed Mill intended to provide uninterrupted power supply and higher quality feed have been halted for nearly two years due to a disagreement between the project’s consultant and the Bahamas Agricultural and Industrial Corporation (BAIC), Agriculture Minister V Alfred Gray confirmed yesterday.

As a result, custom-built equipment valued at $130,000 has been sitting in storage uninstalled since July, 2015, with its warranty set to expire in October.

The equipment and installation costs to fly in technicians were paid to US manufacturer Easy Auto but hinge on the

preparation of a power room and generator.

“The disagreement was such that they could not go on with the programme with her [the consultant],” Mr Gray said.

“The programme is halted, meaning we stopped for the time being until they could find a new consultant to carry on the programme. The programme is not cancelled, it is halted because there was some disagreement between the consultant and BAIC, which was more financial than otherwise.”

He added: “So as soon as they can either sort that out or we can find a new consultant (it will resume). It (the equipment warranty) ends in October and we’re hoping, I’m sure it will be resolved by then.”

Mr Gray did not disclose the nature of the disagreement, and BAIC Chairman Dion Smith has repeatedly declined to comment when contacted by The Tribune. The project was initiated by former BAIC Chairman Arnold Forbes, who was appointed as state minister of works and replaced by Mr Smith in January, 2015.

Last October, farmers reported that scores of pigs starved to death due to the lack of power supply at the government’s feed mill following Hurricane Matthew.

Mr Gray’s admission also follows claims by farmers that contaminated feed from the Gladstone Road mill has led to hundreds of livestock deaths this year.

He told The Tribune that tests ordered on the suspected feed have been completed and that he was planning to hold a press conference to release findings along with the autopsy reports conducted on the Exuma swimming pigs, some of whom died recently.

The Ministry of Agriculture transferred management of the feed mill to the BAIC in July, 2014, as part of a restructuring process to improve quality of services provided to farmers and the Gladstone Road research centre.

According to documents seen by The Tribune, the project’s scope included, but was not limited to: phased modernisation of the feed mill; developing feed formulations; developing and implementing operating procedures and good practices; evaluating and measuring raw material and finished goods; and providing cost/benefit analysis and cost of production metrics to livestock farmers.

In a progress report dated March, 2016, it was noted that the project’s main objective was to upgrade and modernise an “outdated and manual dilapidated feed mill facility. The potential of cross contamination is highly likely.”

Procurement of a power generator was cited as a major pre-condition to the upgrades, according to the report, because of the frequent power outages in Nassau, especially during the summer months, it is imperative that the feed mill has access to a power generator.