Port officials explain why U.S $90 million project was delayed

Officials at the Antigua Port Authority have provided a rationale as to why the U.S. $90 million redevelopment of the Deep Water is behind schedule, in the face of criticisms from the country’s main opposition party.
A ceremony will be held today to signal the start of the multi-million dollar project, which was initially projected for early 2015.
Darwin Telemaque, the port manager, said the management of the Port Authority arrived at the new timeline based on its ability to meet the requirements of the China Exim Bank and the Chinese government.
Speaking during the launch of the project recently, Telemaque said it was quite a task getting to this stage.
“At some point we thought that it was a moving scale because they kept on asking for more and more documents, having everyone jumping through hoops. Our accountant, my management team, a number of people, were tagged to try and do this and it took a few years to get this done,” Telemaque said.
Providing further details on the matter, Mary-Claire Hurst, chairman of the port, said that the previous United Progressive Party (UPP) administration, was delinquent in a number of loans to the China Exim Bank.
She said the Antigua Barbuda Labour Party (ABLP) had to satisfy those amounts before another loan facility was approved.
For years, the UPP has chastised the government about the pace of the project.
(More in today’s Daily Observer)