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Through an agreement reached earlier this year between IAST and the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in India, the acquisition of the machine will facilitate the setting up of the industry by businessman Kumar Ramlall on the East Coast Demerara. According to Director of IAST, Roshan Habibullah, Ramlall is the first private investor to have shown interest in accessing any of the available technologies in India. He said that by using leaves and the pseudostem from the banana tree, Ramlall will be able to commercialise the production of bio-plates and leaf-cups. Bio-plates and leaf-cups are commonly used for serving foods at religious and social functions and traditionally have been made in Indian villages, but the laborious craft can now be accomplished with a mechanical operation to make cups, containers and other utensils in exquisite sizes. Habibullah said such cups and plates would have good dimensional stability besides being inexpensive, hygienic and bio-degradable. He estimated that it will cost Ramlall some US$170 plus freight and insurance to acquire the machine, which has a production rate of 2,000-2,500 cups per day. The businessman, according to the director, has already placed an order for the machine and is hoping to establish several units throughout the country where the raw material resource is easily accessible. He also intends to establish similar manufacturing entities in CARICOM countries where there is a well-structured banana industry. Habibullah observed that the project was pursued without any financial allocation or visits by technical experts. "It was essentially done via discussion." He applauded Ramlall's entrepreneurial spirit and hoped that other members of the private sector will pursue the opportunity to invest in appropriate manufacturing technologies which have become available through this mechanism. IAST and CSIR have developed a technical cooperation programme under a bilateral agreement between the governments of Guyana and India to facilitate the transfer and implementation of commercial technologies from India to Guyana. Extract from article by Nigel Williams, 'Businessman to make bio-plates, leaf-cups for serving food' Stabroek News, 15 Dec 2002. Institute of Applied Science and Technology. The Institute is not currently responding to email messages. We have no information about current progress on this project. (MB - 18 Mar 2004) |
updated:
22 Apr
2003