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2005
2005, June 24: The Port Authority of Jamaica (PAJ)
has joined with Zim Israeli Lines to establish a distribution logistics centre
at the Port of Kingston.
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Already,
the Port Authority and Zim have spent some USD5 million on the project -
the price their joint company paid Cable and Wireless for the 16-acre
property. Zim will hold a 25 per cent stake in the company
called Zim
Integrated Shipping Services Limited,
and the Port Authority 75 per cent. Zim will lease the property for 25
years from the joint venture. The lease will take effect on July 1.
"The
operations will essentially involve Zim securing new business to
distribute goods for manufacturers importing container loads into the free
zone areas, unpacking them, then consolidating shipments and re-packing
for distribution in the region," Jamaica’s Minister of Transport said.
Vice-chairman of Zim Dr Yoram Sebba said the new facility would make
Kingston more competitive. He said that the biggest available hub in this
region is Panama. Panama is a wonderful hub and Kingston is a wonderful hub
but Panama has a logistic centre and Kingston does not. So what we would
like is to fill the gap and have in Kingston both hub and logistic centre,
he said.
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Jamaica’s Minister of Transport and Works, Robert
Pickersgill, announced in Parliament on Tuesday June 14, that the PAJ and Zim
have partnered to purchase a 16-acre property once owned and used by Cable and
Wireless as a maintenance centre.
The logistics centre, essentially is a central
marketing and distribution hub for goods, is expected to be opened in July.
Noel Hylton, the president
of the Port Authority, said the new venture would generate more cargo passing
through the port. He said that the Port Authority would not be involved with the
operations of the logistics centre. This will increase the cargo inflow into
the port tremendously and that is why "we have to start the fifth phase
expansion now," Hylton told the Jamaica Observer newspaper.
The fifth phase of the port
expansion plan will, among other things, provide additional physical space and
modernise processes and procedures at the Kingston container terminal.
Robert Stephens, vice-president of business
development at the PAJ, was reported in local media as saying that when the
logistics centre is established, companies world-wide will be invited to locate
there for more effective distribution of goods throughout the Caribbean, Latin
America and North America. The logistics company will bring in full containers,
for instance, of television sets and computers, unpack, repack and
consolidate the shipment and re-export from Jamaica, he said.
The establishment of the logistics centre forms
part of the Government's five-year expansion plan for the port. The minister
noted that the expansion has become necessary in light of the growth being
experienced in the industry. As a result, he said there could be further
congestion at the port of Kingston this year as more traffic is expected at the
facility.
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