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CHEC turns down Fort Augusta development
BY ALICIA DUNKLEY-WILLIS Senior staff reporter dunkleya@jamaicaobserver.com
Wednesday, May 01, 2013
PRIME Minister Portia Simpson Miller said yesterday that the decision by China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) not to proceed with plans to establish a new trans-shipment port at Fort Augusta -- now serving as the island's sole female prison -- is not an abandonment of the project.
"A few weeks ago, the principals of CHEC came back to the Port Authority of Jamaica indicating that after assessing the Fort Augusta location they no longer had interest in the project. The reason, Mr Speaker is not that they have lost interest in Jamaica; rather they have radically expanded the scope of their projected investment interest in Jamaica," the Prime Minister told Parliament during her contribution to the 2013/14 Budget Debate at Gordon House in Kingston.
"Based on their own plans, as well as the increased interests from other potential users of the port and logistics facilities, Fort Augusta was simply not big enough to provide the space they need," she said.
Nearly a year ago the Government announced that the Port Authority had signed a Memorandum Of Understanding (MOU) with CHEC for that company to explore the feasibility of establishing a new trans-shipment port at Fort Augusta.
Simpson Miller said yesterday that the final location for the project, which is still to be determined, will be a direct investment of CHEC and its parent company, China Construction and Communications Company (CCCC), a Fortune 500 company.
The preliminary estimates of the mega investment are between US$1,200 million and US$1,500 million.
The hub is expected to consist of transshipment facilities, a logistic centre, industrial plants, a cement plant and perhaps a power plant.
Simpson Miller told the House that the extension to the MOU signed by CHEC and the Port Authority would run for another year to allow for all the relevant studies to be conducted, including environmental assessments.
"Let me assure the country that no special concessions will be given in that regard," she said.
The prime minister said the logistics hub is a central plank of the country's overall growth strategy and potentially represents US$9 billion of Foreign Direct Investment. "It has the prospect of generating tens of thousands of jobs in a wide variety of fields for the construction and operational phases," the prime minister said.
In the meantime, she said work continued apace on the roll-out of the enabling systems to realise the successful implementation of the initiative. "So far, we have issued request for proposals and have received positive responses," she added, noting that further details would be provided in the short term.
CHEC turns down Fort Augusta development
BY ALICIA DUNKLEY-WILLIS Senior staff reporter dunkleya@jamaicaobserver.com
Wednesday, May 01, 2013
PRIME Minister Portia Simpson Miller said yesterday that the decision by China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) not to proceed with plans to establish a new trans-shipment port at Fort Augusta -- now serving as the island's sole female prison -- is not an abandonment of the project.
"A few weeks ago, the principals of CHEC came back to the Port Authority of Jamaica indicating that after assessing the Fort Augusta location they no longer had interest in the project. The reason, Mr Speaker is not that they have lost interest in Jamaica; rather they have radically expanded the scope of their projected investment interest in Jamaica," the Prime Minister told Parliament during her contribution to the 2013/14 Budget Debate at Gordon House in Kingston.
"Based on their own plans, as well as the increased interests from other potential users of the port and logistics facilities, Fort Augusta was simply not big enough to provide the space they need," she said.
Nearly a year ago the Government announced that the Port Authority had signed a Memorandum Of Understanding (MOU) with CHEC for that company to explore the feasibility of establishing a new trans-shipment port at Fort Augusta.
Simpson Miller said yesterday that the final location for the project, which is still to be determined, will be a direct investment of CHEC and its parent company, China Construction and Communications Company (CCCC), a Fortune 500 company.
The preliminary estimates of the mega investment are between US$1,200 million and US$1,500 million.
The hub is expected to consist of transshipment facilities, a logistic centre, industrial plants, a cement plant and perhaps a power plant.
Simpson Miller told the House that the extension to the MOU signed by CHEC and the Port Authority would run for another year to allow for all the relevant studies to be conducted, including environmental assessments.
"Let me assure the country that no special concessions will be given in that regard," she said.
The prime minister said the logistics hub is a central plank of the country's overall growth strategy and potentially represents US$9 billion of Foreign Direct Investment. "It has the prospect of generating tens of thousands of jobs in a wide variety of fields for the construction and operational phases," the prime minister said.
In the meantime, she said work continued apace on the roll-out of the enabling systems to realise the successful implementation of the initiative. "So far, we have issued request for proposals and have received positive responses," she added, noting that further details would be provided in the short term.
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