Ferry service — the way forward

It therefore calls for clear and definitive thinking lest we continue to be faced with a situation which does not contribute to a lasting solution which redounds to the benefit of all stakeholders, including the taxpayers.

Here I touch on but three issues in this “festering” matter: 1. The administrative set-up for the ferry service It should be noted that the service is to be run by the TT IFC, a company established under the aegis of the Port Authority, which is itself a statutory authority which falls within the portfolio of the Minister of Works and Transport.

It should also be noted, however, that the company is fully dependent on, and under the control of, the Port Authority. Indeed, the company is not itself vested with the autonomy and the authority to even source its ships to enable it to carry out the tasks at hand and that its staffers are employees of the Port Authority.

Added to the above, the management of the TT IFC is constrained by having to deal with, and to listen to, such entities as the Tobago House of Assembly, and stakeholder bodies as a sine qua non.

It is therefore no exaggeration to describe the TT IFC, having supposed responsibility without authority, as being nothing but a front for the Port Authority itself.

It is clear that this hodgepodge “web” of inter-relationships can “make road for ’gouti to run” and can lead to low morale, stressful decision-making and inefficiency. Indeed, I continue to question the philosophical reasoning underlying the establishment of State enterprises under the jurisdiction of a statutory authority, the policy objectives of the one being different from those of the other.

It is not that, theoretically, the idea of a separate company to run the ferry service ought not to be entertained.

However, such an entity must be separated from, and be not tied to, the coat-tails of the Port Authority, a situation which, I admit, is likely to be anathema to the current sociopolitical orthodoxy.

In this regard, such a company should be treated by the Port Authority in a manner not unlike that which would normally obtain in respect of any customers of the Port Authority and thus requiring payment to the authority by the TT IFC for use of the authority’s equipment and facilities and the incurring of charges such as harbour and basin dues.

In consequence, there would ensue a system of accounting by both bodies which is completely different from that which obtains at present.

2. Dredging of the Port-of-Spain harbour and the Super-Fast Galicia It has been reported that perhaps the main bone of contention in the decision of the authorities to refuse entering into a new extended contract for continuing service by the above-mentioned cargo vessel was dictated by the cost of dredging the specific lane in the Portof- Spain harbour to enable the vessel to dock at its designated moorings.

It should be noted that dredging of the harbour used to be a continuing preoccupation of the Port Authority, being dictated by the undoubted silting of the harbour by our own Caroni River and the Orinoco.

One recalls that the Port Authority used to own its own dredger.

However, this was replaced by occasional contract arrangement on the ground that there was much downtime by the port’s staff.

On reflection, one wonders whether it was a wise and costeffective decision as not only is there a need for continuous dredging of the Portof- Spain harbour, but, in any event, whatever the vessel, the sea lane leading not only to the new cargo ferry catwalk but also to the Caricom jetty would certainly need to be dredged.

Thus one would question whether the matter of the cost of dredging, in itself, ought to have been used as a yardstick in determining the matter of the continuing lease arrangements in respect of the Galicia.

3. The way forward In another piece, I have suggested that the imperatives for a properly run inter-island ferry service (without the past hiccups) require, in the least: (a) Two properly- maintained fast passenger ferry vessels.

(b) Two relatively fast medium-sized cargo ferries with a reasonable complement of “acceptable” passenger accommodation; thus serving as “backups” for the regular passenger fast ferries, when required.

ERROL OC CUPID Trincity, Tacarigua