- PORT CEO PROVIDES UPDATE ON PORTS IN THE GRENADINES
Chief Executive Officer of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Port Authority Carl James said they have received support from Global Support Development to assess the ports in the Grenadines following the passage of Hurricane Beryl.
James told the Agency for Public Information on Monday that they lost most of the navigation aids in the southern grenadines and the reinstallation of these navigation aids have started today.
He said the Union Island Port is in good condition and the Canouan wharf was not badly damaged. But he said some of the armour packings have eroded and that they have made arrangements to have them redone. James added that they would be resurfacing the Canouan Jetty and said in the medium to long term they are looking to rebuild the Canouan Wharf. He said the designs are already available and noted that they will conduct additional stakeholder consultations.
James noted that the Mayreau wharf has sustained minor damage. “These are things we could rectify in a short space of time. We ensure that once we deploy a team in a week or two weeks, Mayreau Wharf will be optimized. Nonetheless, it is fully functional and useable”, the Port CEO said.
He said the Bequia Wharf where the ferries call to is in good condition but the tender jetty in Bequia received a fair bit of damage. James said: “It is usable but we prefer not to use it in its current condition for safety reasons.”
He added that: “Bequia has two wharfs that they normally bring the cruise tenders to, one in Port Elizabeth and one in Hamilton. The one in Hamilton is in pristine condition, so once we accommodate a cruise vessel, the one in Hamilton is there and ready to serve immediately.”
James said they will rectify the jetty in Bequia in October to provide service to customers. He added that they are contemplating and looking at opportunities to enlarge the tender jetty in Bequia to accommodate larger tender vessels.
He noted that they have an aggressive plan in place to complete all these port projects in October.
