Post by ferryfast admin on Sept 27, 2011 11:36:54 GMT -5
Trinidad Cabinet approves inter-island ferry service
www.caribbean360.com/index.php/travel/505744.html#axzz1ZAgudX9V
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, Friday September 23, 2011 - Cabinet has approved the establishment of an inter-island ferry service between Trinidad and Tobago and the Eastern Caribbean.
This comes less than two months after Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar revealed that the plan was being considered.
Minister of Transport Devant Maharaj said the service, which will be based in Port of Spain, will be financed through a public/private arrangement, with the majority of capital expenditure coming from the private sector.
“We are looking at perhaps US$10 to jump on an inter-island ferry from Trinidad to go up the Caribbean and the vessels that have been linked to these proposals right now promises to be substantially larger than what we have,” Maharaj told a post Cabinet news conference Thursday.
He expressed hope that the service be extended as far as Jamaica “if not further.”
Maharaj said this will “strengthen the integration movement between and among CARICOM countries and expand the free movement of people and capital”, and bring tremendous benefits to Trinidad and Tobago and the Caribbean.
He said the initiative already has the support of St. Lucia’s Prime Minister Stephenson King and Guyana President Bharath Jagdeo. )
_____________________
Tobago supplies running low
By Elizabeth Williams Tobago Bureau
www.trinidadexpress.com/news/Tobago_supplies_running_low-129701158.html
Story Updated: Sep 12, 2011 at 11:50 PM ECT
The present State of Emergency in the country may have criminals on the run, but one unwanted side effect is that supplies in Tobago are running low.
Several business owners in Tobago are not happy, as the island's only cargo vessel, the Warrior Spirit, is now on dry dock, worsening a situation in which the transportation of goods and services between Trinidad and Tobago is already a concern.
The inter-island ferries at this time are being used as cargo vessels, as the Warrior Spirit is on dry dock. However, several business owners told the Express that this is not enough, as their supplies are running low.
Managing director of Yat's Marketing, Farouk Yathali, said that some members of the business community were given letters from the Port Authority indicating that the vessel will be taken out of service from September 3 to 18 to undergo its statutory dry-docking programme. But the fast ferries being used at this time are coming up short.
"The boats that we left with—the two fast boats — cannot bring containers to Tobago, so it means if you did not have a truck and the Trinidad suppliers did not want to send you a truck in Tobago, you will remain here with no goods," Yathali said.
He added that while the Port Authority has advised that the vessel will resume its normal operations on September 19, this is not a certainty. Yathali said only standby tickets are being issued for members of the business community and several of his cold storage trucks with goods are being turned back in Trinidad as there is no space on the fast ferries.
"I had a truck that came from Nutrina Farms in Trinidad with all my chickens loaded, waiting on the port this morning, and I had to send them back with it," Yathali said.
Yathali said no one in authority seems to care about the plight of business owners in Tobago, as the problem they face is an annual affair. Some businesses have already started to raise their prices, as thousands of dollars in losses continue to be faced, he said.
"So Trinidad suppliers are now saying they are not prepared to come to Tobago anymore, because they cannot get a booking for their trucks, even though they want to send it. So we are faced with a situation, we have a Minister of Tobago Affairs, we have a Minister of Transport, we have a THA in Tobago, and no one can help," he said.
Mini mart owners are also feeling the pinch, as their trucks are also being left behind in Trinidad.
The Warrior Spirit, the designated cargo vessel for the country, facilitated business owners on a weekly basis. However, the inter-island ferries, specifically the T&T Spirit, is only available for the business community on Mondays Tuesdays and Wednesdays. When the Warrior Spirit returns, business owners are saying it will take the island two to three months to return stocks to maximum strength.