Patterson
Erica James-King, Staff Reporter
WESTERN BUREAU:
PRIME MINISTER P J Patterson has cited substantial infrastructural development and improved security at the island's port as main reasons for the buoyancy in the country's cargo and cruise ship sectors.
He pointed to the newly refurbished Port Antonio Marina, as an example of the major injection of funds into developing the infrastructural arm of the shipping industry.
Pointing to other strategies to accelerate growth in the cruise shipping industry, the Prime Minister said the Government would continue to lobby the Florida Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA), with the aim of put-ting Jam-aica back on the rotation list for cruise conferences.
This latest thrust was outlined to participants at the International Maritime Organisation's three-day conference which ended yesterday at the Grand Lido Negril.
Mr. Patterson said technical studies were also under way to explore expansion possibilities for Lucea's ports.
SECURITY
On the matter of security, Mr. Patterson said the Port Authority had the framework of a revised plan in place, which contains measures to protect all ports.
"This plan is being implemented and upgraded to meet the new requirements of the ISPS Code (the International Ship and Port Facility Security Code)," he said.
At the same time, the Government is assuring that while it puts a raft of measures in place to secure its ports against the twin evils of drug/firearm smuggling and terrorist attacks, the country is well on its way to meeting the July 2004 timeline for compliance with the ISPS Code.
Within two weeks, the Transport Ministry will be signing a US$21 million contract with an American company, for the supply of x-ray machines for the scrutiny of cargo at the Kingston and Montego Bay ports.
The new developments come amidst other upbeat indicators in the shipping and tourism industries.
The Port of Kingston is reporting a steady annual growth of 17 per cent in container traffic and currently Jamaica controls 12 per cent of the regional market in cargo/container traffic.
INCREASE IN CRUISE CALLS
Meanwhile, data from the Jamaica Tourist Board show an increase in the number of cruise ship calls to the ports of Montego Bay and Ocho Rios for this year, in comparison to the two previous years.
To date, there has been a 41 per cent increase in cruise ship calls when compared with the corresponding period last year, and a 15.5 per cent increase over the corresponding period for 2001.
"Cruise calls figures for the first four months of this year have been the highest since 1999, moving from a total of 320,308 in 1999 to a total of 472,052 this year," Mr. Patterson told the IMO gathering in Negril.
"Among the many positives in the industry is our success in attracting calls from a number of new vessels including the Navigator of the Seas," he said.
In addition, the largest and newest vessel in the Carnival fleet of ships Carnival Conquest will begin calling on Montego Bay every Wednesday, starting in December.
Already, the summer is shaping up to be a good one with Director of Tourism, Paul Pennicook, reporting a recovery from the setbacks it suffered recently, as strong hotel bookings are in place for the current summer season.
