$$$ millions in drugs under threat of spoilage at Diamond bond

Apr 09, 2017 News

By Abena Rockcliffe-Campbell
Contrary to excuses about traffic jams and possibility of a fire offered by Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo as reason why the Sussex Street drug bond is needed, Manager of the Diamond facility, Silhouette Craig, has shed new light on

Diamond warehouse Manager, Silhouette Craig

the issue. Craig has said that the Diamond warehouse is plagued by unstable electricity.
Also, the walk in refrigerator at that facility malfunctions periodically. Since certain drugs need to be stored at a low and maintained temperature, one can easily understand why these shortcomings would pose a big problem for the safety of the drugs.
Indeed, it would have been much cheaper to fix the issues at the Diamond bond than to rent the Sussex Street bond for over $12M per month but Craig said that the facility is coming in handy for the time being.
Craig said that there is an utmost need for the walk in fridge at the Sussex Street Bond adding that it has come to the rescue on several occasions already.
Craig indicated that the Diamond walk in fridge is not filled “because the last time it was down we had to relocate stuff here (Sussex Street bond) then we relocate back so it was back and forth. That is why we did not fill it to capacity just in case something happens again we have to come and move.”
Asked how long the drugs can survive after the fridge malfunctions Craig responded, “It should be removed immediately because the temperature would keep dropping.”
She added, “We would not like that to happen over a weekend because no one is there (Diamond) on the weekend.”
Craig said that the fridge began malfunctioning last year, but did not point out whether this was before the rental of the Sussex Street bond. The manager said that the fridge has a built-in thermometer which is monitored and the temperature is recorded in a log three times daily. She said that the temperature sometimes fluctuates “but not very often.
“When it does (fluctuate) we call in the technicians to deal with it.”
Then there is the electricity supply problem which Craig said the Ministry of Public Health is actively trying to get fixed. She said that the electricity problem has caused much damage to equipment.
Because of the problem, the charging compartment has been damaged. “Then we have lights that would just go out ever so often.”
Craig admitted her ignorance about the electrician trade but said she thinks that the power problem may very well be responsible for the fridge’s problems as well.
She added, “I was made to understand that the number of stuff we have pull too much. We have too many equipment: generators, transformer, forklifts that need to be charged; we have a whole lot of fridges.”
“We weren’t picking up the problem. Even GPL checked their external things and said that they were not picking up any problem.” Craig said that Cummings Electrical is now trying to rectify the issue.
Ministry of Public Health Public Relations Officer, Terrence Esseboom said that Diamond Hospital seems to have a similar problem. When Esseboom spoke of this, he was speaking based on his knowledge gained as a private citizen and as a member of a committee that overlooks the operations of the hospital.
Esseboom said that he once visited the hospital and some of the machines were down. He said that he was told that this was as a result of an electrical problem.
“Sometimes the machines are not functioning because of the power problem and they cannot seem to identify exactly what the problem is.”
Esseboom continued, “I have been on the committee since 2015 and was hearing about this problem which existed before.”