MINISTER PICKERSGILL TOURS KINGSTON WHARVES

Minister Pickersgill (centre) flanked by Mr. G Kitson, General Manger of Kingston Wharves (left) and Mr. G Stephenson, Chairman and CEO of Kingston Wharves.

Minister Robert Pickersgill was part of a team that toured the Kingston Wharves on Tuesday, March 27, 2007.

The Tour which was organised by Mr. Grantley Stephenson, Chairman and CEO of Kingston Wharves Ltd. saw a group of journalists and officials from the shipping fraternity being show various aspects of the Wharf's operations.

According to Grantley Stephenson, 'Kingston Wharves is expecting a spike in business after the widening of the Panama Canal and is spending US$26M to create more spaces for larger ships." "With this expansion, we will now be able to attract additional business," he said.

The expansion will see the completion of 1,250 feet of berthing space, the first phase of which will be constructed on reclaimed land extending 50feet into the sea. This will begin in May and the remainder by the end of July. On completion, the berths will also allow the company increased container storage capacity.

For his part, Minister Pickersgill noted that expansion projects such as that being embarked on by Kingston Wharves, could only further enhance the profile of Jamaica's Kingston Harbour as a preferred port. He pointed out that the port was now ranked 55th in the world's top 100 ports.

Continuing, he said, "I am very confident that efforts such as these here at Kingston Wharves will start paying rich dividends in the not too distant future. The maritime industry is expanding worldwide and I am gratified to see that we in Jamaica are staking our claim to a piece of that global pie."

Other initiatives being undertaken by Kingston Wharves to aid its development include Equipment acquisition, Staff Training and Information Technology. In this regard, the company has acquired seven additional pieces of container handling equipment, bringing the fleet to eleven as well as two Gottwald Mobile Harbour cranes, bringing the fleet of cranes available on the terminal to three.

In terms of staff training, the company has put in place, an intensive training programme where employees are trained through several customised in house programmes and also through external programmes which include Bachelors and Masters degrees sponsored by the Company.

The Wharf is also pioneering the use of E-Payment in the shipping industry by launching that system in early 2006. Some other developments include the use of handheld computers for both containerized and motor vehicle cargo and the placing of computers in container handling equipment.