PORT OF SPAIN – The Trinidad and Tobago government Monday commissioned two new large-scale non-intrusive inspection mobile scanners at the Port of Port of Spain, indicating that it would allow for a significant increase in containers being inspected.
Finance Minister Colm Imbert said the scanners will improve the detection of illegal contraband, narcotics, and weapons and can process up to 25 containers per hour, far surpassing the previous scanner’s 60 per day.
Two more scanners of the same model are set to be commissioned at the Port of Point Lisas on the west coast of Trinidad in the coming days. The four scanners cost US$12.9 million and was purchased after a procurement process that began in 2023.
Works and Transport Minister, Rohan Sinanan, said the new scanners would bolster national security, improve business efficiency and save taxpayers money.
Authorities plan to scan 75 per cent of all containers to meet international standards, but acting Comptroller of Customs, Riad Juman, is pushing for full screening.
A specialised radiation committee will be set up for health and safety.
Meanwhile, Sinanan has called for an end to protracted negotiations between the Port Authority and port workers, saying a resolution is crucial for the Port of Port of Spain to reach its full potential.
“We need to put an end to the negotiations that are long overdue. I am hoping that good sense can prevail and we can come to the table with mature solutions and suggestions,” he said, adding that he believes the port could have achieved far more success in 2024 had there not been industrial action.
Late last year, work at the Port of Spain had been severely affected as workers protested the the government’s decision not to honour a 12 percent wage increase dating back to 2014.
The workers, represented by the Seamen and Waterfront Workers Trade Union (SWWTU) said that they had been told that the memorandum of agreement (MOA) under which the 12 percent wage agreement had been reached is not enforceable.
Port workers had been protesting since October last year, demanding the 12 percent salary increase for the period 2014 to 2017, which had been agreed upon with the previous government. The matter is now before the Industrial Court.
Sinanan said tht the Port of Port of Spain should have broken the record for the (number) of containers passing through.
“But because of that two-month period where some vessels bypassed us, we were not able to reach the figures that would have shown that the economy is really a vibrant economy,” he said, adding that the Port of Port of Spain could surpass the Point Lisas port in performance.
The Point Lisas port was named joint winner of the Caribbean Shipping Association’s Ludlow Stewart Container Port Competition 2024, alongside Manzanillo International Terminal (MIT) of Panama.
“If we could get (the negotiations) out of the way, there’s no reason why the Port of Port of Spain in 2025 cannot take that title from the Port of Point Lisas as being the number one port in the Caribbean,” he said.
Addressing ongoing negotiations, Sinanan stressed the need for balanced discussions, suggesting workers and the union should be reasonable in their demands and expectations.
“The CPO (chief personnel officer) will put something forward. The unions will then negotiate. What I’m seeing is that we need to come together…The port cannot pay something that the port cannot afford. We want to settle these negotiations, but one party cannot just hold to a hard position and then we reach nowhere.” (CMC)
