A modern Bridgetown Port to meet Barbados’ needs in the 21st Century and beyond was highlighted by Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley as an area in which the International Maritime Organization (IMO) could lend its expertise.
Ms. Mottley mentioned this and other areas of cooperation during a recent courtesy call with the Secretary General of IMO, Arsenio Dominguez, at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre.
During the discussions, the Prime Minister stated that the port expansion project was a top priority for her government, adding that Barbados could no longer exist with a port that was built in the 1950s.
She stressed: “The footprint of the Port, apart from a tinkering here, a berth here and a berth there, has remained the vision of Sir Grantley Adams in the 1950s.
“The Port was opened in 1961… It cannot drive economic activity and certainly not in a crisis as where we are at now. This is about Barbados’ future economic stability and if we don’t get this right, we are not going to be in a position to guarantee this country’s stability.”
Ms. Mottley also spoke about a plan to expand an existing pier in the north of the island, which could be used as a light industrial area to construct a liquid and natural gas processing plant, or as a secondary berth for cruise ships going forward.
The Prime Minister expressed a keen interest in partnering with IMO, given the Secretary General’s knowledge of the Americas.
In response, Mr. Dominguez said it was a great opportunity for IMO to work with a small island developing state and suggested that Prime Minister Mottley should identify a “point person” to commence discussions on the project.
“Whenever we develop a new port, it’s going to be a sustainable project going forward because it takes into account all of the actions that we have adopted at our organization. So, in helping you, we are actually helping ourselves,” he said.
The two officials also discussed increased flights to Panama on COPA Airlines, climate mitigation efforts, and preserving the marine ecosystem, among other topics.