New cement introduced on local market

By Joyette Mills-Ward
Business Reporter-SKNVibes.com

Danny H Jairam (AMICT)Concrete Technologist/Consultant for Etercnoc Ltd, Facilitator of Seminar

At a seminar held at the Ocean Terrace Inn at Fortlands, Basseterre, Danny H. Jairam (AMICT) a Concrete Technologist/Consultant for ETERCNOC Limited in Trinidad outlined the attributes of the new product to the attendees and made comparisons to OPC.

Jairam touched on topics such as how hydraulic cement works, the need to modify OPC concrete, the attributes of Ordinary Portland and Pozzolan cement concrete and the advantages & disadvantages of Premium cement.

Approximately 40 attendees which included local engineers, contractors, staff of TDC Home & Building Depot, St Kitts Masonry Products and S L Horsfords & Co. Ltd. were given an opportunity to question the facilitator after the presentation.

SKNVibes.com spoke to independent contractor Brian Brookes, owner of Brookes Architectural Construction located in St Peters who said “the seminar was fruitful and that the facilitator’s delivery of the product information was impressive”.

The presentation was persuasive enough that Brookes is enthusiastic about using the product saying “it’s definitely something I would like to try, once it is going to better the quality of my work”. Brookes said that the cost of the premium cement should not be a deterrent to persons trying it out, as the presenter indicated that the difference in cost between that and ordinary cement may be a dollar or two more.   ~~Adz:Right~~

Donald Kelsick, the Executive Director of SL Horsfords & Co. Ltd. Said that the seminar went very well, the information was well received by the participants and that he views the new product Premium Portland-Pozzolan Cement as an important product certainly set to climb to a place of prominence in SLH sales line-up.

Wayne Rawlins, Manager of the Redi-Mix Concrete Operations of St. Kitts Masonry Products also spoke to SKNVibes.com and said he was pleased with the presentation and that the product would definitely be a major help in producing concrete in this type of climate.

“The hotter climate of the Caribbean can make concrete difficult to work with, especially when it has to travel long distances before delivery, in terms of keeping it at a consistency that it can be poured or pumped,” he said.

Mitchell Gumbs of TDC said “As the construction industry grows we have to find innovative ways to better the product and to build houses that can withstand hurricane winds of up to 125mph. With the advent of this new product the housing stock would become more durable, stronger and able to withstand the onslaught of hurricanes as we are located in the hurricane belt and are currently in the hurricane season.”

Gumbs indicated that as the country progressed more seminars of this sort would be necessary to widen the scope of knowledge of persons operating within the construction industry. 

This, he opined, would in turn improve construction methods and techniques, thereby delivering a better, stronger, more durable product.