KINGSTON, Jamaica — Nearly three years after retiring as the chairman of the Port Authority of Jamaica (PAJ), Noel Hylton, is to take up the chairmanship of the Vernamfield Enterprise Team.

The 85-year-old Hylton, was chairman of the PAJ for 40 years until he retired in November, 2013. He was also one of the “founding fathers” of the Caribbean Shipping Association.

However, the Vernamfield Project is aimed primarily at air transportation, having been conceptualized with the aim of expanding and strengthening Jamaica’s international aviation industry, in tandem with positioning Jamaica as an international cargo transshipment hub.

The enterprise team will be responsible for: soliciting investors and developers for the project; facilitating a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the Government and the investor, detailing the intended common line of action; and project design and implementation.

The Vernamfield Project is an important aspect of Transport and Mining Minister Mike Henry’s ambition to create a multi-modal transport system across Jamaica, with Vernamfield responsible for leveraging the existing and future cargo networks at the Port of Kingston.

However, while Henry’s obsession with Vernamfield may have led many Jamaicans to believe that it is in his Central Clarendon constituency, the fact is that it is really in Clarendon South West, which is probably the safest seat for the Opposition People’s National Party (PNP) in Clarendon. 

The Member of Parliament for Clarendon South West is PNP vice president, Noel Arscott.

Meanwhile the rest of the Enterprise team is Wilfred Bagaloo, Dr Meredith Derby, and the representative of: ministries of Transport and Mining and Economic Growth and Job Creation; the Development Bank of Jamaica; the Airports Authority of Jamaica; and the Attorney General’s department

Balford Henry