Stakeholders will gather today to give Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley a first-hand account of how the three-month breakdown on the sea bridge has been affecting the transport of goods and services to Tobago.
Kay Trotman, President of the Tobago Unique Bed and Breakfast and Self-Catering Association hopes the Prime Minister will be ready to hear their plight of how badly they have been affected.
The meeting today, scheduled to take place at the Magdalena Grand Beach and Golf Resort, Lowlands, at 2 pm, invited stakeholders to speak with the Prime Minister after the cancellation of the contract for the latest passenger ferry the Ocean Flower 2.
Passengers and people moving cargo have been experiencing problems since the departure of the MV Super Fast Galicia in April and procuring alternative vessels have run into problems.
“Last weekend was a busy time as it was the Great Race and I did not get one booking at my establishment. People have lost confidence in the transportation service between the islands. We are not sure what to expect in the meeting,” Trotman told the T&T Guardian by phone yesterday.
She said for years her association and other private sector organisations have been making recommendations on how to improve the sea bridge service but these have fallen on deaf ears.
Earlier this month, Tobago Hoteliers and Tourism Association president Chris James said the accommodation industry has lost $25 million in projected revenue. He also said members were finding it difficult to pay their bills since they could only do so when their occupancy rate was at 50 per cent. He said the occupancy rate had fallen steadily as a direct result of the inter-island ferry debacle.
Horace Ameade, President of the Inter-Isle Truckers and Traders Association told the T&T Guardian yesterday that he does not want to give details on what they intend to say at the meeting with the Prime Minister but did say that they need answers.
For the last few months, he has been complaining that the vessels between the Trinidad and Tobago are inadequate and that sector also reported loss of money.
Representatives of the Tobago Chamber of Commerce, the Tobago Hoteliers and Tourism Association, the Tobago Truckers Association and the Tobago Unique Bed and Breakfast and Self-Catering Association were among the organisations invited to attend the meeting.
The meeting follows Works Minister Rohan Sinanan’s announcement two weeks ago, that the contract for the Ocean Flower 2, procured from the Canada-based Bridgemans Service Group, was terminated after the company failed to deliver the vessel by an extended August 1 deadline.
An engineer’s report from the Port Authority revealed that the vessel had been plagued by technical problems after a sea trial in Panama.
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On April 21, the inter-island cargo ferry, the Super Fast Galicia made its last journey between Trinidad and Tobago after operating since 2014. The Works Minister had said that the owner of the vessel Trasmed had given two weeks notice before it terminated its contract.
The MV Transporter barge and the MV Provider vessel then replaced the Super Fast Galicia.
After months of searching, the Port Authority of T&T announced in late June that it had leased the passenger ferry the Ocean Flower 2 and the Cabo Star to replace the Super Fast Galicia on the sea bridge.
The Ocean Flower 2 never made it to Trinidad and the contract has since been cancelled, but the Cabo Star has been transporting cargo across the two islands.
In August, Sinanan assured that the termination of the contract for the Ocean Flower 2 would not affect the servicing of the inter-island sea bridge as the three vessels currently in use—the T&T Spirit, T&T Express and the Cabo Star are under passenger capacity.
In early August, the Port Authority of Trinidad and Tobago terminated the contract for the Ocean Flower 2 passenger ferry and the decision was taken after the supplier of the vessel failed to meet the delivery date within the extension period laid out in the contract. Last week, the Prime Minister appointed businessman Christian Mouttet, to probe the circumstances surrounding the procurement of the Ocean Flower 2 and Cabo Star. Mouttet has one month to deliver his report.