PM: Ferry owned by TT

“As head of the Government, I want to apologise to the people of Trinidad and Tobago...to the people of Tobago in particular, for what is happening between the Port of Port of Spain and the Port in Scarborough.

We have to accept that it is far beneath what it should be and the circumstances are quite troublesome.

“On a personal level and on a business level, people are in fact suffering losses because of the inability of the State to provided an adequate umbilical chord between Trinidad and Tobago.” He said the situation did not develop overnight.

Rowley said when he returns from a state visit to Chile next Wednesday, he will have more to say on the matter. Rowley said while there will be “some pain in the process”, in the interim, the Port Authority should be able to rectify the situation in the not-too-distant future. Rowley said that in the long term, Government intends to construct a vessel that will be wholly owned by the people.

“The Cabinet is looking into that at the moment.” “We are also going to order two fast ferries. But these not things that you order today and buy tomorrow. They have to be built and it takes a number of years. So, the intention is to own and operate our own vessels down the road. But in the meantime, we are going to either wet lease or otherwise obtain short-term leases to ensure adequate service while the two vessels - the Spirit and the Express are put on dry dock some time soon,” Rowley added.