How is the maritime sector is being revolutionised in order to accommodate the increased flow of passengers and cargo?

A few months after our port was constructed in the late 60s, we discovered that it was obsolete: we had prepared for breakbulk and then 20ft containers emerged. We have had to find a way to accommodate first 20ft and later 40ft containers. Equally, in the tourism sector large cruise ships, which we were not prepared for, were introduced. It became clear to us that in order to be competitive we have to upgrade and bring these megaships to Antigua and Barbuda. When we changed government a few years ago it was immediately recognised by the new administration that, in order for the industry to compete, this upgrade was necessary.
The new government, after a conference of the cruise industry in Miami, undertook to dredge the harbour in order to better accommodate the ships. We then decided to go a step further to accommodate another class of vessel, which we did in record time, dredging further and extending the pier. We are now capable of accommodating the Quantum class, and development is underway to accommodate the Oasis class of cruise ship.
With regard to containers, we are redeveloping our harbour. We will have a logistics park and transhipment – it will be a one-stop-shop.
We will also be looking at transhipment, because Antigua is in the heart of the Caribbean. It’s an important strategic position. Our location affords us the opportunity to do many things that other countries are not able to do. You can tranship from here to as far as Africa, and for cheaper. We have entered into an agreement with the Guatemalan corridor; they are going to have a land-sea operation. Cargo will be transported from the Pacific to the Caribbean Sea by land, and pass through Antigua, which will act as the hub for transhipment of all that trade. That’s another opportunity for revenue.

What opportunities exist for private investors and what are the advantages that Antigua presents as a commercial hub when compared to neighbouring countries?

Our port, once completed, will be bigger and offer better services than other countries in the region. We will have space for the containers and our logistics park will ensure the organised movement of containers out of Antigua.
With a modern port we will be able to send out a vessel with empties and a vessel with full containers simultaneously, and it will be cheaper in the long run. You spend less time in port and achieve higher productivity.

Efficiency, financial management, and innovation are three of the key elements that have made Antigua’s Port Authority the leading port authority in the region. Can you win it again this year?

It seems that way, because we are continuing to improve. The reason our Port Authority is in the position it is today, I think, is because we work very well together. When I assumed the responsibility we had a $5 million deficit, which in two years we have overturned and are now even making a profit. PMAC (the Port Management Association of the Caribbean) have been impressed with this turnaround.

What has been driving your personal long-term commitment to the public sector and to the country?

At the port authority, one of my greatest achievements has been in training staff. I have sent 17 students to the Caribbean Maritime Institute (CMI). We have a shortage of marine staff, and so I had to replenish that. I explained to the Prime Minister that we needed to train people: we needed marine pilots, engineers, and deckhands, among others. I told him we should go into schools and introduce the Antigua and Barbuda Port Authority not only as a place to work as a longshoreman or a stevedore, but as port manager or an operation manager or in port financing.
Our creed, in the Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party, states that we believe in the empowerment of our people, the principles of good governance, the elimination of poverty, the provision of full employment, and the equitable distribution of wealth, opportunity, and justice. I was involved in the formation of that, and so I live by it. I love to see youngsters coming into organisations and developing.