Factories Reopen, Clean-up Begins

Wilmar Sugar and Renewables reopened its two Herbert mills to employees on Monday (10 February) to begin the clean-up and recovery effort.
General Manager Operations Mike McLeod said Victoria and Macknade mills got power back on over the weekend, and electrical crews were doing safety checks before each area was made accessible. He said the focus for the first couple of days would be on cleaning up and assessing damage.
“This was a very significant flood event and we know there’ll be losses and damage to our infrastructure, particularly our cane rail network.
“It’ll take a couple of weeks to get a detailed picture of what we’re dealing with. As we understand the situation, we’ll finalise our work plan to get our factories and rail network back in order.”
Mr McLeod said the flood event would put some pressure on the Herbert maintenance program.
“We’ve lost time like everyone else, and of course many of our people have been directly impacted by the flood. But we’ve managed flood disasters before and we’ll manage this one.
“We’ve got an excellent team up here and good resources. We’ll work through the process and reorganise our work program to get the factories and rail line ready for the 2025 season.”
Mr McLeod said he was proud of the extent to which Wilmar and its employees supported the Herbert community during the disaster.
“Our people were out and about, lending a hand and giving practical support where they could.
“We donated two ute-loads of 15L bottles of water to residents at the Ingham Evacuation Centre, and ran a sausage sizzle for people staying there.
“We also set up a portable crib room at an employee’s front yard at Forrest Beach, and it became a bit of a community hub. It was somewhere locals could charge their phones, have a coffee, enjoy a bit of air-conditioning and have a chat.
“It was really appreciated.”