A Grenadian building contractor has warned the state-owned Gravel Concrete & Emulsion Production Corporation about purchasing cement for the construction industry outside of the regular suppliers on the local market.
The contractor called THE NEW TODAY following a report carried in its last issue about an approach that was made to the company by a private sector entity, ICON INC to purchase a quantity of Hard Rock cement in a one-off deal from a business enterprise based in Trinidad & Tobago.
He said that insurance companies are now insisting that when casting a deck with concrete that a few cubes should be tested to make sure that the quality is good.
“…If the concrete that is poured doesn’t meet the specific standard after 28 days – sometimes you do a test after 14 days and another after 28 days – then you have to break it (the structure),” he added.
According to the Building Contractor, the investigator could determine whether it was a problem with the mixture of the concrete or if it was with the cement.
He recalled an instance when the blame was laid at the feet of a local firm that imports cement for the construction industry and the business had to compensate for the bad cement.
“So it’s going to be dangerous for a quasi-government entity to have to pay millions of dollars for an $80, 000.00 job. You get an $80, 000 job and you have to pay millions (in compensation),” he said.
The Board of Directors of Gravel & Concrete rejected the offer that was brought by its Chairman Sylvester Quarless to purchase the cement from ICON INC which is based in Grenville, St. Andrew.
THE NEW TODAY understands that two local companies, one engaged in pouring concrete on construction sites and the other, a hardware store, eventually purchased the entire shipment of Hard Rock cement.