CDA makeover

The Chaguaramas Development Authority (CDA) is gung ho over its latest project, one that its Chairman, Renwick Nickie thinks will bring value to the area. It’s Granwood, and according to Nickie is ripe for development. Cost ? About TT $200 million. He said it was an old platform-like facility left by the Americans when they occupied Chaguaramas. The CDA is hoping to start development in the next couple of months.   He projected that about 5,000-6,000 people could be employed at the Granwood facility. He does not foresee problems getting tenants to occupy it. “We are gong to develop the whole thing,” he said in a recent interview at the Chaguaramas Convention Centre. 

Nickie says it will be light industrial activity, he said, noting that it will not interfere with the green areas. Asked what type of industry, he said telecommunications was one of them and referred to DirecOne, owned by the Gillette Group of Companies, an interntional call centre. He said he hope he could get the company to set up a similar operation in Granwood and perhaps consider moving their entire operation down there. The convention, he said, can be used for other things. The CDA has already gotten plans for approvals, and the relevants parties are supposed to make presentation to the CDA board next week. One criteria is that the real estate developers must be able to do the whole development at once.

“One of them is saying that they can do the whole thing; the other is saying that they can do it in phases,” he said. Both are local companies, one having international ties. He said when the project went out for tendering, six companies, some with global ties, took request for proposals. He declined to give the name of the companies involved. He noted though that before any company is given the thumbs-up, it had to show that it had proper financing.