Back to the Future for Bill Belsey

The Daily News covered the latest developments at the former Skeena Cellulose site, as Sun Wave Forest Products the new owners of the land that mill sits on announced a familiar name had joined their team.

Bill Belsey the former North Coast MLA and now a consultant who has been working to bring Sun Wave to the table to buy the mill, has been hired by that same Sun Wave to be their on site representative.

His job will be to transition the day to day issues and any regulatory issues that may crop up while the Chinese based company works on their financial plan to operate the facility which has been shut for five years now.

Much of Belsey's time as the representative for the North Coast was spent trying to get a handle on the state of the Skeena file, which became an ominous black cloud on the local economy and on the fortunes of the Liberal government in the area.

Belsey came by his knowledge of the Skeena situation through local experience, as prior to his time as the North Coast's MLA, he was an engineering and maintenance supervisor at the old Skeena Cellulose and since losing the last provincial election has been fairly prominent in the plans to try to bring the mill back on line.

That goal seems a bit off yet however, as factors such as the Canadian dollar and the prices of pulp on the world market conspire against the profitable operation of the mill at the moment it seems. They are but two things which despite his many skills, are probably beyond the reach and control of Mr. Belsey, who will instead concentrate on the nuts and bolts of the operation.

The Daily brought us up to speed on the developments at Watson Island, with a front page story in Friday's paper which you can check out below.

NEW CONSULTANT HELPS MOVE PULP MILL FORWARD
By Leanne Ritchie
The Daily News
Friday, June 23, 2006
Page One

The former Skeena Cellulose pulp mill on Watson Island has new owners following last week's purchase by Sun Wave Forest Products, but a familiar face is part of the team helping to guide the mill through the transition phase towards opening.

Bill Belsey of Points North Consulting, a former engineering and maintenance manager at the pulp mill and former MLA, has been hired as the site representative by Sun Wave Forest Products.

"I'm working under contract to transition through the day-to-day issues and regulatory issues," said Belsey.

Sun Wave Forest Products is still working with the Chinese government to secure the necessary funding to repair, rebuild and restart the pulp mill; however they were able to secure the funding to purchase the Watson Island pulp mill lands last week.

Despite not operating since 2001, some of the pulp mill is still in surprisingly good shape, said Belsey, There are parts which are in dire need of replacing, however they were in need of replacement five years ago when the mill shut down.

"The crew that has been out there providing the security and patrolling duties have done an incredible job of monitoring the conditions of the equipment and chemicals on site," he said.

There are 13 people currently employed on the site.

Meanwhile there are things which would help in a successful pulp mill restart. These include a decrease in the Canadian dollar, an increase in pulp prices, finding enough tradesmen, the fibre agreements which are being worked on and of course the millions of dollars necessary for a start up, he said.

However Sun Wave continues working on as many areas as they can and Belsey said it has been amazing to watch the company bring all the necessary people on board, including Coast Tsmishian Resources, the owners of Tree Farm License 1 and other First Nations forestry participants.

"I believe Sun Wave goes into a room without a lot of baggage. They sit down and listen sincerely," said Belsey.

Others have agreed.

"I think it is very exciting. It really hurts to watch how we are living because of a lack of jobs in our community," said Jim Angus, a member of the Gitxsan Forestry Committee.

The Gitxsan, who own 32,000 square kilometers in northwest B. C. have already been talking with Sun Wave about fibre agreements.

"The purchase of the pulp mill by Sun Wave and the reactivating of the pulp mill will filter jobs through our communities."

The pulp mill remains a necessary part of the northwest forest industry because of the decadent timber profile of the region.

"Because of our timber profile, we have a high percentage of pulp logs," said Belsey.

This can go as high as 90 per cent. Without a market for these logs, it makes logging in the northwest expensive and unprofitable.

"Those pulp logs have to be managed," he said. "They can be managed locally or shipped out of the area."