Imbert: Island port proposed for PoS

Speaking with journalists after a swearing-in ceremony for the Port Authority of Trinidad and Tobago’s (PATT) new board of directors, Imbert said he has received "a number of proposals" for the precise location of the new PoS port since he announced its construction in August. At that time, Imbert said the new port would be constructed on land in Sea Lots, south of National Petroleum’s headquarters.

The minister disclosed that among the proposals presented to him for the new port is one "to create an artificial island just south of the existing channel, south of where Caricom Jetty is, where the ferries come in," to build the new port rather than build it at Sea Lots. Imbert said he currently has experts examining the feasibility of the proposal, especially from an environmental perspective. "I don’t want to rush. I thought that it was too important to just disregard it and dismiss it as a nonsensical idea. It was really quite an interesting proposal to create this artificial island," he stated.

Imbert also said he has asked the Urban Development Company of TT (Udecott) to bring in consultants who specialise in areas such as dredging, sediment transportation and land reclamation to examine the proposal. The minister explained that regardless of wherever the new PoS port is constructed, the input of these professionals would be invaluable to its successful construction. "I will make a decision on that (location of the new port) within the next month. I will go back to Cabinet and let Cabinet know what is happening," Imbert said.

Imbert previously said once the port is relocated to its new location, the lands which it currently occupies would be used for developmental purposes in Port-of-Spain, including part of the proposed PoS waterfront complex and the proposed mass transit system.

Imbert said the new PATT board was "very carefully chosen" because of the major developmental initiatives which PATT will be undertaking in the near future. He expressed confidence that new PATT chairman Derek Hudson and vice-chairman Vincent Perreira (given their extensive energy sector backgrounds) will bring significant expertise to bear on these initiatives, and build on the work done by the outgoing board that was chaired by Noel Garcia. Imbert disclosed that he had been handling matters at the PATT during the hiatus between the outgoing and incoming boards, but has now withdrawn and will leave matters on the port to Hudson and his board. "It is not something I wanted to do but because it was known that the Cabinet had taken the decision to change the board about two weeks ago," he added.