Good morning and welcome to the Tynes Bay Waste to Energy Facility.
I am pleased to be joined this morning by my Ministerial colleague the Hon. Lovitta Foggo, Minister of of Labour, Community Affairs and Sports, the newly minted Acting Chief Engineer, Mr. Kirk Outerbridge, the equally newly minted Acting Plant Manager, Mr. Nasir Wade, Operations Engineer, Mr. Stuart Matthews, Acting Director of Work Force Development, Dr. Patricia Chapman, Acting Training manager at Work Force Development, Mr. Kenneth Bartram, and of course the men of the hour Mr. Marcal Wilkinson and Mr. Hezekiah Rampersad.
I’m going to be the historian this morning and recap how we arrive at this place. Prior to 2007 individuals obtained Power Engineering licenses from Canada through a training program initiative set up through the Government of Bermuda. A local coordinator guided staff through the course work and additional documentation for study guides. In addition, a Technical Standards & Safety Authority (TSSA) testing invigilator travelled to the island periodically to conduct licensing exams on island.
While the program had some notable successes helping most individuals obtain the minimum 4th class license and some 2nd & 3rd class licenses, it was very costly and some did not take full advantage of the program. Of note though is, the current Operations Engineer, Mr. Matthews did take full advantage of the program and obtained a 1st class license. The Tynes Bay Waste to Energy Facility continues to be recognized as a First Class Power Plant through TSSA which oversees the province of Ontario.
For a variety of reasons the initiative lost momentum and another method had to be devised. The success of that programme however, is that many individuals who currently hold operation positions around the island in the various establishments locally and abroad such as Belco, Bermuda Hospitals, Fairmont Southampton Hotel and Ontario Bruce Power Nuclear Power Plant – to name a few – are as a result of that programme.
Why Cambrian College?
Cambrian provides training up to the 2nd class Power Engineering level. Their program allows students to obtain valuable steam hours for licensing qualification which aids in a quicker completion time. Cambrian also has a TSSA approved, working steam plant where students gain specialized hands on training.
The course at Cambrian is generally oversubscribed – not surprisingly applicants can wait two years or more to be accepted as the program is a “Canadians First” approach – so we are very fortunate to secure places for Marcal and Hezekiah.
We are researching other Canadian jurisdictions to ascertain if there are more options available to expand the programme.
Tynes Bay currently has 3 vacant Power Engineering Positions and requires qualified Power Engineers to fill the Process Controller posts. This facility essentially is an almost 100% Bermudian operation and this Government is committed to taking whatever steps are necessary to recruit , train and promote young Bermudians into these posts.
We have every confidence that Marcal and Hezekiah will be successful and support each other on this journey as they have been friends since high school and both completed the dual enrolment programme last year at Bermuda College. They know and I wish to publicly state that all of us in this Ministry will support you in this effort – so do not hesitate to ask for any help that you need.