The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

The New Providencelandfill manager yesterday said it expects to add an extra 70 persons to its payroll by summer to work in its new $4 million recycling facility.

Gerhard Buekes, Renew Bahamas’ chief executive, told Tribune Business that the company aims to have roughly 130 employees by summer.

Mr Buekes, who gave a presentation to the Rotary Club of West Nassau, said Renew Bahamas was still aiming to have its recycling facility operating at full capacity by May. It was announced last June as the new manager for the Tonique Williams-Darling Highway site.

    “We aim to have about 130 employees by summer time,” Mr Beukes said. “We  are still aiming to have the facility operating at full capacity in May. 

“Obviously, in order to run a  facility of that size we do require more workers. We already have 60 people on the payroll, which means there will be another 70 people that we will be employing as a result of the facility.”

Mr Buekes further explained: “We have two picking lines that can have 20 people on them. We could even increase that potentially.

“On every shift we need  40 people picking the relevant waste streams off the conveyor belt at any given time, as long as the facility is open, whether that is eight hours or 16 hours a day.

“We have done various studies on what the outputs would be. It depends on the day of the week, the week of the month and the month of the year. It varies quite a bit. In terms of tonnages we’re not exactly sure. We have some expectations on ranges but it is very difficult until we actually put it through. It could be better or it could be worse.”    

Mr Buekes said Renew Bahamas has made a significant upfront capital investment thus far. “I think that the opportunity is there in terms of our revenue-generating capacity. We took a calculated business risk by spending the capital investment on the facility,” he explained.

“We’re spending the operational cost in terms of running the day-to-day. We had spent all of the capital expenditure up from before we can actually start making money. That is what was quite an attractive deal for the Government, and hopefully there is enough waste to monetise for us.”

Kenred Dorsett, minister of the envrionment, in his House of Assembly mid-year Budget contribution, said: “Renew Bahamas has begun work on the construction of a $4 million, 125,000 square feet, Materials Recycling Facility (MRF) at the landfill.

“This will be the very first MRF in the country and usher in a new era in waste management in the country. Ground has been broken and we are on our way to having a functioning MRF in the capital. The projected time for completion is this April, functioning at full capacity by May of this year.”