Govt moving ahead with Goat Islands transhipment hub
KINGSTON, Jamaica — Buoyed by the positive signs arising from a Port Authority of Jamaica (PAJ) scoping study, Minister of Transport, Works and Housing, Dr. Omar Davies, says the government will proceed to a framework agreement for the development of the Goat Islands as a China owned transhipment hub by April.
In the meantime, he said that the PAJ will continue to liaise with the contractor, China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC), to clarify details of the project.
“A framework agreement is expected to be finalised before the expiration date of the amended MOU, at the end of April 2014,” Davies told the House of Representatives, Tuesday.
“In fact, it is our plan to have the Framework Agreement in place by the end of January, 2014. During the negotiation of the Framework Agreement, issues identified in the environmental scoping will be addressed in the preliminary designs,” he added.
He said that on completion of the agreement, the project will then be submitted to cabinet for consideration. If there is cabinet approval, it will be submitted to the National Environment Planning Agency (NEPA) for determination of the Terms of Reference of an Environmental Impact Assessment.
The environmental management scoping study of the Portland Bight Protected Area (PBPA), a preliminary environmental study done by Conrad Douglas and Associates, says that the area is not exclusively an environmental conservatory, but is intended to facilitate multiple activities in a sustainable manner.
The report pointed out that, while the area hosts natural heritage resources, it also includes a number of major industrial, commercial, residential, and agricultural activities, including Jamalco at Rocky Point Port, the Jamaica Public Service plant at Old Harbour, the Jamaica Broilers ethanol plant, and the Doctor Bird barges. However, it suggested that institutional strengthening of the protected area would be necessary, if it is to facilitate any infrastructural development on the Goat Islands.