Normal port operations to continue during redevelopment phase -Darwin Telemaque

There will be minimal disruptions to normal operations at the Antigua Port Authority during the rollout of a U.S. $90 million redevelopment plan at the Deep Water Harbour. Darwin Telemaque, the general manager of the Antigua Port Authority, made the disclosure yesterday while speaking to reporters at a ceremony marking the official launch of the project.
He also said that a ground-breaking ceremony will be held on Monday and the actual construction phase will begin in March of this year. “The operation of the port will become a little bit more challenging, but it will not stop. We will continue to deliver, we will continue to serve. The public will be asked to understand a bit, but once it is done it will be a lot better,” Telemaque told reporters on Thursday.
The Deep Water Harbour, which is located in St. John’s, is the country’s main commercial port handling all the cargo that is imported into the country. Government is seeking to modernise the port with funds which were secured through a loan from the China Exim Bank.
The project will include the redevelopment of the existing port infrastructure, as well as new initiatives to promote container transhipment, a new cruise berth, as well as cargo and logistics facilities and other amenities. Office spaces will also be created to accommodate the Antigua and Barbuda Customs and Excise Division, Plant Protection Unit, Immigration and other services that customers accessing the port would generally have to journey to St. John’s for and then return to the Deep Water Harbour.
(More in today’s Daily Observer)