Rolingson unmoored

NEIL ROLINGSON, the retiring President of the Point Lisas Industrial Port Development Corporation (Plipdeco), says like the Phoenix the people of Couva will rise from the ashes. As for retirement, Rolingson said that he never wanted a rocking chair. Already he has secured another job in the private  sector. “I am mature  and restless,” he said. He is coming to the end of his stewardship at Plipdeco and and will be retiring at the end of April. He joined the company in 1991 and during the thirteen years he spent in the Corporation, first as the Chief Executive Officer and now as President, he has seen Plipdeco grow from a port with little equipment and facilities to one of the best in the Caribbean and perhaps in this hemisphere.

As testament to its dynamism, an award has been presented to Plipdeco every year by the Caribbean Shipping Association. Rolingson was honoured last week by the Couva/Point Lisas Chamber of Commerce for his stewardship of Plipdeco. “For your contribution in placing Couva and its environs on the economic map of Trinidad and Tobago by your dynamic leadership at Plipdeco,” according to Feroz Khan, President of the Chamber. The function took place at Plipdeco’s Corporate and Communications Building. During his tenure, Rolingson saw the establishment of Berth 1 to V costing millions of dollars, and he was looking forward to creating more Berths up to the seventh, before leaving Office. For Berth Five the total project cost was US$25.68 million, with 15 percent financing comimg from RBTT. At the time of the signing, he described this as the most challenging project for Plipdeco.

Under his stewardship, too, a joint venture was sealed with PLIPWIJS, a major international player in the tug and towage business, to provide towage services to Atlantic LNG. “The long range plan of the Corporation is to establish more Berths up to the 11th, at which point Plipdeco would unquestionably  become  the financial gateway to the Americas,” Rolingson said. He also engineered the Plipdeco Rights Issue, one for two rights issue at $7.70 per share to facilitate the port expansion. “The new issue of shares will enable Plipdeco to raise the necessary capital to faciliate growth and development of its cargo handling facilities,” said the company. The issue was oversubscribed  Rolingson was part of the Chamber for 10 years since its inauguration in 1994 and “say what you want this Chamber is one of the better commercial organisations inTrinidad and Tobago serving the community at all levels and making a very impressive impact on the economic landscape of the country.”

He saw the Chamber which started with a membership of four has since grown to approximately 300, including all the major tenants at the Pt. Lisas Industrial Estate as well as the business community at Couva, California, Brechin Castle, Rivulet Road, Mc Bean, Dow village, and Esperanza. Discussing the impact of the closure of the Brechin Castle Factory at Couva in Government’s Restructuring Programme Rolingson said, “I have faith in the people of Couva and California to rise again from the ashes  as the proverbial bird — the  Phoenix, as I hold the view that nothing of the sort will keep an industrious people down.” Rolingson said that he lived in the north along the East West Corridor and there “is nothing there like Port Pt. Lisas or a Chamber of Commerce like the one you have here that could chart the course of progress with Plipdeco being in the driver’s seat.” “You here are lucky to have Port Pt. Lisas  in the lead to orchestrate your growth and development,” Rolingson said.

Rolingson is not shy about the role he played in getting the port where it is today. “When you look at our Balance Sheet at the end of the year now, with prudent management we have moved from a port that was doing well with very little equipment and very meagre facilities to a port that right now is international by nature .” “We have moved from an estate that was struggling to an estate that needs more land for expansion,” Rolingson added. Rolingson stressed that “the achievements at Plipdeco were the result of an excellent team effort with managers and employees  working assiduouslywith me. He says the port thrived because of a certain level of industrial peace, a direct reference to the volatile industrial climate that overshadows the country today.

“I think that we have been able to do this with a certain level of industrial peace,” he said, noting  that “we have had the fullest co-operation of the SWWTU and the Estate Police Association, all being done with me playing a small part.” He said that plans were already on the drawing board for berths 6, 7 and 8, at the end of which “we will truly  be labelled an international stop-over point, with an increasing volume of cargo handling activities to satisfy the needs of our customers. “We are financially strong as we are a good performer on the Stock Market as you would have noticed the share price has not been doing too badly in the recent past,” he explained.

The last share price quoted on the TTSE was $15.50