Increased Employment Expected From Ports Upgrading

Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, is anticipating significantly increased employment generation from the expansion and upgrading of Jamaica’s ports.

He believes this will materialize, even as equipment and technology are installed to improve efficiency and productivity at these facilities.

The Prime Minister was speaking at a press conference at Jamaica House on Friday, July 1 to announce Kingston Container Terminal’s (KCT) divestment.

Noting that job creation involving the ports would not necessarily be restricted to those facilities, Mr. Holness said manufacturing and trading firms were increasingly operating in ‘just-in-time’ mode.

This, he explained, sees them focusing on having inventories of finished or partially finished goods, awaiting final customization and assembly, stored closer to clients.

The Prime Minister contended that these activities, which involved repackaging products to fulfill demand, would be best accomplished at facilities in close proximity to the ports. This, he pointed out, was widely known as near port logistics.

Against this background, Mr. Holness said many more jobs can be created “if we are able to attract the manufacturing and trading firms to establish their logistics operations in Jamaica, taking advantage of our ideal location and a work force that is capable of meeting and exceeding international productivity standards.”

As such, he encourages the various stakeholders to move quickly to facilitate this engagement.

The KCT has been divested to the Kingston Freeport Terminal Limited (KFTL), a subsidiary of French shipping firm, CMA CGM Group.

The terminal’s operations will be administered under the 30-year concession agreement between KFTL and the Port Authority of Jamaica (PAJ), and involves the former financing the KCT’S development and expansion.