-technical assessments to be completed soon
Plans are forging ahead to operationalise the regional ferry service plying routes between Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana, with technical assessments and a gap analysis on schedule to be completed by month end, President Irfaan Ali says.
“We’re hoping that before the end of the month, the full technical assessment and gap analysis will be completed and while the gap analysis is being completed, the agencies in three countries are already taking action to ensure that the requirements are met and policies are implemented to bring to effect the commencement of the service,” Ali told Stabroek News yesterday when asked for an update.
“So as soon as that is finished, as soon as we have a technical assessment, then of course at some of the port facilities there’ll be need for adjustments… made to the infrastructure to accommodate the vessel. And then of course, we will move towards the ferry,” he added.
Ali also informed that the Guyana, Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago initiative saw the setting up of a “working group with ministers and the technical people.”
Together, they “have completed and are going through all the phytosanitary requirement items that we can start with. They’re examining the Guyana/Suriname model, in terms of the movement of vehicles, the insurance use, quarantine issues and all of these things, and a technical team will conclude an analysis as to the port facilities; what will be required to adjust the port facilities for the vessel to land,” the President explained.
“So I will say that a lot of technical work has been concluded. I think, they have already agreed on a set of protocols. The preclearance they’re working on now [that is] the guidelines for preclearance,” he added.
Ali noted that the three countries will have to have joint training exercises between customs and revenue officials, alongside those of officials of the respective immigration offices.
“Because as we said, in each country we will have different country officials from their customs and immigration and plant and animal health offices so that you have preclearance requirements,” he pointed out. Pre-clearance, he reasoned is “very important to ensure that it adds to the competitiveness and the free movement of goods and services.”
Addressing the opening ceremony of the 12th annual Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) consultation with Caribbean Governors, in February of this year here, Ali had said that he hoped the service would begin in about three months.
A high-level meeting was held in Trinidad two weeks prior, and all sides had two months for the completion of pre-clearance procedures for immigration, customs, and plant quarantine, and to make the ferry service a reality as soon as possible. The ferry will allow the movement of containers and passengers, with the potential to boost trade relations and advance food security efforts.
Ali has said that the aim is also to bring on board the regional private sector to implement similar initiatives to enhance areas of supply chain and logistics. “We have launched the first phase of this. In another two, or three months, that ferry will begin operations, and we are hoping that this will instil confidence in the private sector, and for the IDB investors, this is an excellent opportunity to bring a regional consortium together.”
He had told the IDB gathering that this venture signals the readiness of the three countries to take action to solve shared challenges in the Caribbean region. According to the head of state, this initiative falls under a joint slogan, which was dubbed “the coalition of the willing.”
“We are not waiting on everyone. Those who are willing to start an innovative project will go ahead, and the others will join when they are ready,” he expressed.
The recent discussions among Guyana, Trinidad & Tobago, and Barbados on the ferry was held in Port of Spain.
The Ministry of Public Works in a press statement had noted that at the request of the President of Guyana, a high-level officials’ meeting was convened on Thursday, February 15, in Trinidad at the Ministry of Works and Transport.”
One of the many challenges identified by Heads of Government within Caricom of actualising the regional objective stated in the Twenty-Five by 2025 Initiative, which is to reduce the regional food bill by 25% by the year 2025, remains the difficulty faced in transporting agricultural goods and people intra-regionally. It is with this in mind that the meeting was organised.
The meeting highlighted each country’s position and perspective on this issue and each Minister from the respective Caricom states took the opportunity to emphasise their commitment to the process of implementing the transportation system and to resolutely promote regional food security without compromising public health, security, and safety.
It was determined that the three countries were on the cusp of the formation of a company to drive the process for the introduction of a regional ferry service. This company would comprise directors from each country to facilitate operations.
An inspection of the Galleons Passage in Port of Spain was conducted by ministers and technical officials followed by discussions on the other areas of importance to the proposal for the common transportation system such as plant quarantine, including sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) matters, and immigration and customs, for the movement of people and goods for trade. A system for pre-clearance was also proposed for implementation.
It was agreed that a team of technical officials from Trinidad & Tobago will visit Guyana and Barbados to inspect port infrastructure to accommodate the proposed ferry service.
