Thursday, April 16, 2009 – Bridgetown, Barbados: Chairman of Arawak Cement Company Limited – Mr. Jeffrey Mc Farlane and other board members joined the management and staff of the company to give a warm welcome to Prime Minister, The Honorable David Thompson, on his recent familiarization visit to the St. Lucy plant.

Accompanied by Dr. David Estwick, Minister of Economic Affairs and Empowerment, Innovation, Trade, Industry and Commerce; Denis Kellman, Caricom Ambassador and other officials, the Prime Minister received a first hand look at the daily operations of Barbados’ sole cement manufacturer (part of the TCL Group) including the Palletizer Building, the Fuel System, the new Clinker Conveyor and the jetty.

“I wanted to get a sense of what is happening in all of our sectors ahead of next month’s Financial Statement and Budget Proposals so we visited Arawak Cement and then the nearby cultural and historical icon St. Nicholas Abbey. Then, hopefully, in the days following the Summit of the Americas in Trinidad, we will visit some other entities and hear first hand from people who contribute to the economy exactly what is happening so that we can fashion our policies,” Prime Minister Thompson said after the tour.

TCL Group CEO, Dr. Rollin Bertrand, used the opportunity to highlight some of the issues Arawak Cement and the Group as a whole currently face, in order to lobby Government assistance and support for programmes and initiatives it plans to launch including a proposal to burn used tyres as an alternative fuel to reduce the company’s energy bill while protecting the environment; and the designation of Arawak Cement’s jetty facility as an official port.

“Tyre burning is something that Arawak Cement can do to really help with the disposal of used tyres. It is done all over the world and we wouldn’t be reinventing the wheel, so to speak. Tyre burning is done in the United States under a Clean Air Act and is all Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) certified so we would be bringing environmentally friendly technology into Barbados and that is the approach we will take with the whole question of tyre burning,” Bertrand said.

In terms of an official port of call, he said this was important because all of the cement vessels have to go through the Bridgetown Port, which sometimes creates delays that affect the cement plant’s competitiveness.

Acting general manager of Arawak Cement, Rupert Greene, noted that it was an honour to be paid a visit by the Prime Minister, stressing that the event provided a good opportunity for TCL Group and Arawak Cement representatives to strengthen their relations with Government.

L-R: Mr. Yusuff Omar – Director – Arawak Cement, His Excellency Mr. Dennis Kellman, Ambassador to CARICOM, Mr. Jeffrey McFarlane, Chairman – Arawak Cement, The Hon. Mr. David Thompson, Prime Minister of Barbados, Mr. Dwight Sutherland, ESM  - Arawak Cement, Mr. Rupert Greene, GM – Arawak Cement
Back row: The Hon. Dr. David Estwick, Minister o Economic Affairs & Empowerment, Innovation, Trade Industry & Commerce and Dr. Rollin Bertrand, CEO, TCL Group 

L-R: The Hon  Mr. David Thompson, Prime Minister of Barbados, Mr. Rupert Greene, General Manager (Ag) – Arawak Cement, The Hon. Dr. David Estwick, Minister of Economic Affairs & Empowerment, Innovation, Trade Industry & Commerce, Mr. Dwight Sutherland, Engineering Services Manager – Arawak, Dr. Rollin Bertrand – CEO, TCL Group