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| Port Authority Chairman,
Noel Garcia |
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| The Port of Port of Spain
dominates the waterfront of the capital city. |
The Port in Port of Spain, one of the important
commercial shipping centers of the Western Hemisphere,
is going private with a target date of this coming
September. If Trinidad and Tobago Port Authority
Chairman, Noel Garcia, who represents the nation
as current owner of the Port, has his way, the deal
will also include a total modernization.
Garcia explains: “My mandate is to modernize
this Port, by far the largest in our country. We ship
300,000 TU’s (a TU equals 20 shipping containers)
annually while Point Lisas handles 80,000 (Point Lisas
is the country’s other commercial port). We also
move 500,000 tons of bulk cargo. In 2002 we imported
some 46,000 motor vehicles to the port of Port of
Spain. We handle about 110 cruise ship tourist arrivals
and we also handle ferry service to Tobago which carries
about 260,000 passengers last year. So it gives you
an idea of the size of the port operation.”
With all this volume, the Port of the Port of Spain
generates a large revenue. Says Chairman Garcia, “Our
turnover last year was a little over 50 million U.S.
dollars. We anticipate by 2008, revenues will climb
to $200 million.”
The Port has had a 14 percent yearly growth for several
years and a number of things are happening that could
make it one of the top ports in the Western Hemisphere.
Chairman Garcia provides the background, “We
are taking advantage of the trade from South America,
mainly from Brazil and Venezuela. We’re geographically
perfect for what is called the south-south trade,
that is trade between Africa and South America. We
are ideally positioned for trade out of the west coast
of the United States and along with Houston and the
Gulf.”
Most of this growth, 80 percent, is what is called
trans-shipment cargo. Of the 300,000 TU’s handled,
less than one-third is for local consumption.
Garcia elaborates, “We are developing in Trinidad
a major trans-shipment hub and how that operates is
that ships originate in various ports, say Africa,
and will drop off their cargos here to be consolidated.
They are then sent to Venezuela, Brazil and the United
States or wherever. So the port is really poised for
rapid growth.”
The Port is located in the very heart of the capital
city, with docks just a block or two from the headquarters
of the main banks, large companies and the shopping
district. Cruise ship passengers stopping in Port
of Spain do not find an idyllic tropical beach, but
an extremely busy metropolitan area. Located at the
cruise ship dock and souvenir vendor area is the locally
famous “Breakfast Shed” which produces a
high quality version of the local cuisine, featuring
such delicacies as “flying fish” for breakfast
and rice-based pork, lamb and beef stew for lunch.
Altogether The Port Authority has supervision over
24 points-of-entry, most of them a single dock for
a local business, such as those in cement and milling
industries. In addition to the main port in Port of
Spain, a second busy dock is the port in Scarborough,
the 15,000 population city of Tobago, 22 miles away.
The energy industry got government permission to build
a large facility in the island’s south central
area, at Point Lisas. This is the location of deep
water shipping for such export products as ammonia,
methanol and the liquid form of natural gas. The success
of privately-owned Point Lisas is one argument for
the privatization of Port of Spain.
Looking into the future, Chairman Garcia predicts,
“In less than two decades we intend to be the
number one port in this part of the world because
if we achieve our goal of full development we would
be the only 1st world country in the hemisphere, outside
of the United States. Neither Venezuela nor Brazil
are considered developed countries, Argentina perhaps,
but given its problems…Well, we are very optimistic
about the coming decades.” |
