Prof Shirley tapped as new port boss
UNIVERSITY of the West Indies principal Professor Gordon Shirley has been chosen for the top job at the Port Authority of Jamaica (PAJ), according to the Jamaica Observer sources.
In a matter of weeks, he is expected to head to the port, where he will replace chairman and CEO Noel Hylton, who has been at the helm of the PAJ since 1975.
The post fits neatly with his role as chairman of the National Task Force, which will lead the charge in coordinating all the critical infrastructural and labour factors for the Logistics Hub initiative.
“The Government is seeking to take advantage of the increase in the movement of goods when the expanded Panama Canal opens in 2015,” said a release from the Office of the Prime Minister last month. “It is moving ahead to prepare the workforce, build out the necessary infrastructure, and put in place the legislative arrangements that will allow the country to take its place as the world’s fourth node in the global supply chain.”
It is not yet clear what the specific timelines are for transforming the port or when Kingston Container Terminal (KCT) will be divested, but Shirley will have to deal with a tough economic climate, and a state agency in need of financing.
The PAJ’s working capital improved over the year to March 31, 2013, according to preliminary estimates.
But its current liabilities of $6.44 billion still exceeded its current assets of $6.3 billion at the end of March 2013, while its cash fell from $404 million as at March 31, 2012, to zero at the end of March this year.
What’s more, the PAJ’s total equity declined by $770 million, from $12.7 billion to $11.9 billion over the year to March 31, 2013, as it took a large foreign exhange loss on its loans, following a year when it said that its containerised cargo business averted a “state of bankruptcy” during the fiscal year, which ended March 31, 2012.
KCT’s income is more dependent on 20-foot container equivalent (TEUs) movements, for which data has not been published as yet.
However, trans-shipment volume (by tonnage) at the cargo handler declined year-over-year by 6.4 per cent during the first four months of 2013, reflecting a continuing trend of decline from last year, according to PAJ data.
It also showed that the number of cruise ship calls and passengers declined by 9.2 per cent and 6.9 per cent, respectively, for the four months to April 30, 2013, when compared to the same period in 2012.