Point Lisas denies DOMA’s ‘no room’ claim

THE POINT LISAS Industrial Port Development Corporation (Plipdeco)  has denied that ships are by-passing the port of Point Lisas. In fact, in a letter to Gregory Aboud, president of the Downtown Owners and Merchants Association (DOMA), the acting president of Plipdeco, Capt Rawle Baddaloo sought to set the record straight. Baddaloo wrote: “The purpose of this letter is to correct the false and misleading statement issued by DOMA and quoted in several reports.” The port official referred to the sixth and seventh paragraphs of a Guardian article which stated: “there is not enough room at either port (meaning Point Lisas and the Port-of-Spain port) to store containerised cargo which is destined for Trinidad.”

According to the article, the shipping lines have chosen to avoid waiting at sea for clearance and depart Trinidad to maintain their schedules. Capt Baddaloo responded: “I would like to state and for the record that not only is there sufficient room at the port to meet the container and other storage needs of our customers, but to date, no vessel has by-passed Point Lisas, nor do we anticipate any such occurrence. Our cargo handling operations continue to run with accustomed efficiency, in addition to which, we are pleased to advise that a new shipping line began calling at the port as recently as August 1,” wrote Baddaloo. He explained that he was particularly disappointed that no effort seemed to have been made to check the facts as they pertained to operations at Port Point Lisas, prior to DOMA making the statement. Meanwhile, after discussions held with the the Shipping Association concerning the current conditions at the country’s seaports,  the Ministry of Trade and Industry has issued a statement in which it blames the situation on increased demand at the country’s ports.

“Although both Port-of-Spain and Point Lisas are undergoing expansion, the demand for service is much greater than the present expansion rate,” said the Ministry. It noted that the Port Authority handled 50,000 20-foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) per year in 1990 and that figure rose to over 300,000 TEUs in 2003. The Ministry said it was committed to assisting in the development of efficient, productive ports that can meet the demands they were facing. Acccording to the Ministry, Trinidad’s unique geographical location presented the country with great opportunities in the transhipment industry. Resulting from the discussions between the Ministry and the Shipping Association, a team was established to conduct an analysis and recommend solutions to the problems that had a negative effect on productivity. The team has been mandated to present its findings in a month’s time.