Workers prepare a cement mixture on the Brighton Housing project in October 2005. - CLAUDINE HOUSEN/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHERTWO CONCRETE experts will arrive on the island tomorrow to assist The Caribbean Cement Company Limited (CCCL) with an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the release of a batch of 500 tonnes of faulty Carib Cement into the market.
The experts are regional concrete expert, Dr. Robin Osbourne of the Faculty of Engineering at the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus in Trinidad as well as an internationally respected expert in cement and concrete from Construction Technology Laboratories in the United States of America.
Alice Hyde, Marketing Manager of CCCL said the investigation is aimed at determining the factors that led to the breach of CCCL's rigorous quality standards at the Rockfort Plant and to recommend the appropriate action to prevent a recurrence.
SETTING PROPERTIES
On February 24, the cement which was found to exhibit premature setting properties when used to make concrete, was recalled.
The Jamaica Labour Party has been demanding a full inquiry into the matter, claiming that the batch which was sent out was inferior.
"With regard to reports that concrete from the batch over the period February 26 to 28, was low in strength, internal tests done by the CCCL have found that the cement conformed to the required specification of Jamaica defined by the Bureau of Standards," Ms. Hyde said.
She noted that the bureau had received samples of the cement produced over the two day period for independent testing.
"The company sincerely apologises to all users of its products who may have been affected by this recall," said Ms. Hyde.
