BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – IN fulfilment of another of the many promises made during the 2015 election campaign, the Government of National Unity is looking at mid-year to begin construction of the much-talked about second cruise pier at Port Zante.
This announcement was made by Minister of Public Infrastructure the Hon. Ian ‘Patches’ Liburd during Friday’s (Feb 19) sitting of the National Assembly, where he revealed that representatives of the Canadian Commercial Corporation and Export Development Canada (CCC) are expected in the Federation to finalize work on the project.
“The CCC representatives are due here shortly to finalize its road map with the St. Christopher Air and Sea Ports Authority. It is therefore anticipated that construction on this new pier at Port Zante will commence within the first half of 2016 and will be completed for the 2017 to 2018 cruise season.”
That statement comes on the heels of one made by Tourism Minister Lindsay Grant who, during an interview in January, said the Government was preparing a document to take to Cabinet to finalize before public announcement of its intention.
“We are expecting tenders to be done very shortly. We are against time right now...we are struggling for time. So, hopefully, I am optimistic that by next month we should be seeing some effort towards groundbreaking.”
Minister Grant explained that the second pier would eliminate the use of the commercial port by cruise ships, which significantly affect cargo ships when they are docked in that area.”
The Public Infrastructure Minister reminded the House that late last year the Government had signed a Memorandum of Understand with the CCC and that company would also be one of the financiers of the project.
“We have received a proposal and, having received that proposal, we also were approached by the Canadian Commercial Corporation, a crown corporation of the Government of Canada, who expressed confidence in the construction of a new cruise pier at Port Zante and has offered assistance in accessing Canadian Solutions and identifying the potential sources of financing, including Export Development Canada.
“With the approval of Cabinet, we signed a Memorandum of Understanding, a government to government MOU, through the CCC which underlined the intentions of both parties to engage into commercial contractual discussions. This MOU was signed in late November 2015.”
Construction of the new pier is welcomed by the cruise lines, Liburd revealed, pointing out that when completed the new facility would be able to accommodate “two breakaway class vessels simultaneously”.
