Roadtown, Tortola - The Territory will host the 12th Annual Port Management Association of the Caribbean (PMAC) Meeting which will be held from June 17-19.

It is expected that approximately11PMAC member countries will be represented at the meeting which will be held at Maria’s By the Sea Hotel and Restaurant. Managing Director of the British Virgin Islands Port Authority Mr. Vincent Victor O’Neal and Chairman of PMAC Mr. Everton Walters are scheduled to deliver remarks at the opening ceremony slated for Thursday, June 18.

Three presentations will be made during the meeting.  Management and Port Consultant, Aviation, Maritime and Management Consulting Incorporated Mr. Vincent Hippolyte will present on “A Model for Port Tariff Reviews and Development in the Caribbean”.  Other presenters will be Executive Director, Caribbean Maritime Institute, Mr. Fritz Pinnock who will speak on “Caribbean Port Industry- Weathering the Storm of Recession” and Chief Executive Officer, Ismart Home and Business Mr. Russell Jones will present on “Analytical Security and Automation”.

Mr. O’Neal told the Department of Information and Public Relations during an interview that the Territory benefits positively from being a member of PMAC.  “The BVI has benefited in the area of information sharing via exchanging ideas when dealing with the challenges which we all face in our ports especially since the events of 9/11 in the United States,” he said.

He said there are also great training opportunities which are available for all PMAC members.  “PMAC has in its constitution that it is mandatory that they have to have at least two training sessions every quarter so we have the opportunity to have on the job training at different ports,” Mr. O’Neal said.

When speaking about the challenge that ports are facing in today’s environment, Mr. O’Neal said irrefutably ‘security’ is one of the main challenges that ports around the world are facing.  “The main challenge of all the ports in PMAC, including the BVI, and I suspect of ports anywhere in the world is the issue of security,” he added.

“Our ports here in the BVI are unique when we compare them with those in the other islands, this is because we have five different ports of entry which means that we have to have additional security and personnel,” Mr. O’Neal explained, adding, “I do not think there is any port in the association that has the kind of traffic that we have coming through West End.”

The Virgin Islands (UK) became a PMAC member in 1998. PMAC was established in June of that year having succeeded the Port Management Association of the Eastern Caribbean which was established in 1988.  The current membership includes the ports of Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, Montserrat, Nevis, St. Christopher, St. Lucia, St. Maarten, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and the Virgin Islands (UK). 
 
The mission of PMAC is to foster operational and financial efficiency, and to enhance the level of service to the mutual benefit of Caribbean ports and their stakeholders, through the sharing of experiences, training, information and ideas.