Chairman of the Shipping Association of Guyana (SAG) Andrew Astwood
Says that a railway link between Lethem and Georgetown may provide a faster, more reliable and economically viable alternative to a road and the association is calling for this option to be seriously considered.
Meanwhile, plans to construct a container transhipment terminal at Lethem have been placed on the back burner until the volume of containerised cargo coming from Brazil increases significantly.
Recent studies have shown that viable volumes of cargo to justify the investment in the infrastructure will not occur until about 2018.
Speaking with the Stabroek News, Astwood, who is also the managing director of the Guyana National Shipping Corporation, said that the link to Georgetown from Lethem – whether by road or rail – is a prerequisite for the building of a transhipment facility at Lethem.
This facility will be for the holding of containerised cargo coming from, and going to Brazil. The facility is intended to have a coordinated system and schedule for the movement of cargo and is not expected to operate in a haphazard way, Astwood said.
“We see it as something that could only be developed through joint venture. Our initiative is to try to work with the Brazilians and see whether any company or companies… [the] port authority or people involved in maritime transportation… perhaps they could put in the equipment and we use our management,” he said.
He said the SAG is guided by studies which suggest that by 2018 there will be volumes of cargo in the order of 400 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) per day passing through Lethem from Brazil. He said this volume of cargo would justify investment in infrastructure.
According to Astwood, the Government of Guyana is on board with the maritime sector’s Economic Integra-tion Programme and has allocated an 80-acre parcel of land in Lethem for the construction of the transhipment facility. He said the members of the SAG had examined the initiative at a high level caucus held in October 2011 and considered it worthy of positive action.
“The issue is that the cargo has not begun to flow as yet. The information that we have gotten from the story on the Linden-Lethem road is that by 2018 you will have at least 200 to 400 TEUs being moved per day on that road. If that occurs then obviously business is going to be good. But to have a facility there without such volumes really wouldn’t make sense,” Astwood said.
He said the SAG believes the best option is to partner with the Brazilians to get the project done. “They have already begun to set up small hubs at various points… This whole issue of cargo moving from Brazil and destined for Europe and other parts of the world is not only cargo coming from North Brazil but cargo coming from further afield. If you are going to be getting cargo coming from inland Brazil and further down to Lethem a transhipment hub is necessary,” he said.
“We see the reasoning as being acceptable as regards shipping logistics, because to move that cargo over 3,000 miles is definitely not going to be too practical. But it would mean transferring a lot of equipment there, you have to get container stackers there, you have to get mobile cranes there. It is really a massive investment,” he said.
On the issue of the cost of the facility, he said that the SAG has been looking to its membership to see those who were interested in developing their businesses in that area, “so that we can all come collectively and perhaps get about trying to see how we can acquire the necessary resources.”
He said the SAG is also looking to set up a container terminal in Demerara port and to get involved in another massive undertaking like the one envisaged in Lethem would be difficult for the association from a financial standpoint. He said if there would be such large volumes coming to the city for onward carriage to other parts of the world then there would be the need for a semi-transhipment hub in the city also.
He said, “Go-Invest said as soon as we could come up with a proper proposal for moving forward, the government would examine the possibilities.” He noted that the government is wary of going in and developing and the business not materialising as projected.
“We have been saying that the development would have to be in a phased manner. Perhaps you start with the warehouse and then you move on to other things,” he said.
Asked how far along the project was, he said, “This project as far as we are concerned is really in its embryonic stages. There was much dialogue with Go-Invest in late 2010 on this. As you know there was a visit by the Brazilians. They came in 2010 and then they came back in 2011 and they have been… pushing this. It is coming out of their pushing that we have decided to do something,” he said.
He said Go-Invest had plans for a facility at Lethem, “which can perhaps hold cargo flows coming from brazil and destined for Guyana and further afield.” He said that the intent is that there should be a transhipment hub somewhere to cater for cargo to be exchanged “so that on the Guyana side we would pick it up from there and bring it down to the port either in Georgetown or Berbice.”
He said that to a lesser degree, the facility will hold exports before they go over to Brazil. He noted that there is Brazil bound traffic originating from Guyana and pointed to the fact that the National Milling Company is already making shipments to Brazil
The facility is supposed to also have warehouses where loose cargo to and from Brazil could be held and then moved at a particular time of need. “We have said to Go-Invest that we see this as something that is necessary given shipping logistics and that we are willing to work along with them to develop such a facility.
“I guess like everyone else we would like to see something concrete come out of the road corridor because everything is dependent on that. When that is done other things would follow,” he said. “But we feel that a more viable and reliable consideration would be rail.”
