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  • 1 year ago
It is imperative that the problems at the Port of Spain Port be solved.


That's the view of the Downtown Owners and Merchants Association which says responsibility is needed on all sides to ensure that operations are not affected in the manner which the country has experienced for a few days.


DOMA warns that if that is not done, there could be dire consequences for the country.


Alicia Boucher has the details.
Transcript
00:00Workers at the Port of Port of Spain have once again returned to work, enabling operations to resume.
00:06President of the Downtown Owners and Merchants Association, Gregory Abboud,
00:11notes the concerns, including that of health and safety, raised by the Seamen and Waterfront Workers Trade Union.
00:18And while he says there is no reason to discount those concerns, he does not believe that they are insurmountable.
00:24Let us work towards resolving what exists without hurting the country so badly.
00:31The state of affairs of our national economy are not what it should be for us to be taking chances
00:37with shutting our port down or creating any difficulty or hardship for the country.
00:41This is a very serious time and we have to be concerned about all aspects of the operation of this society's economy.
00:49Abboud points to the country's high level of expenditure when compared to other Caribbean islands
00:55and lower energy prices, leading to deficits that run into billions of dollars.
01:00He also highlights the words of Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley, who has in essence told the nation
01:06to brace for about two years of hard times ahead.
01:09Domus says preventing the operational issues from reoccurring is crucial.
01:14This is not a time for flippancy and it's certainly not a time for us to be grandstanding with such a critical operation.
01:23This is serious business. The economy of Trinidad and Tobago cannot afford to be hammered in this way.
01:31On the question of whether the port of Point Lisa can be used in such scenarios, Abboud says no.
01:37Some of the lines are not calling at Point Lisa, so it isn't to say that if they bypass Port of Spain, they would go to Point Lisa.
01:46What we mean to say is that the shipping agencies have indicated that if they bypass Port of Spain,
01:52they will go down to Suriname or they will go down to Santos in Brazil.
01:56This is a comment that has come back to us and actually, I can tell you from discussions which we had two days ago,
02:04that decision was less than 48 hours away when the conversation took place, so it's a very serious situation.
02:11He also weighs in on the defense force having to intervene to offload the Rolon Roloff Vessel, Asian Trust.
02:17Bringing the defense force in is a very serious remedy for what took place,
02:24and a necessary remedy, if I might add, to serious situations. It has to be done.
02:30With operations surrounding imports to the country and exports, including to the region, hanging in the balance,
02:36Doma says port workers and their representing trade union have a serious responsibility to help the country sustain itself economically.
02:46I would like to thank them for recognizing that and for giving us their best effort,
02:51and to say that I am sure the Port Authority will address their concerns
02:56and that we will not have to meet again to have this discussion,
03:00and that we are on our way to trying to each of us do the best that we can for our economy and for our country.
03:07Doma says it is willing to meet with the SWWTU once it would aid in a resolution.
03:13Alicia Boucher, TV6 News.
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