Business View Caribbean, July/August 2018

88 89 THE PORT AUTHORITY OF ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA our service. That way, we will have sensors installed in our heavy equipment and the data will be monitored and assessed by the Caribbean Maritime University, which will provide us with updated information on the need for proper maintenance, or the possibility of parts that need to be re- placed. It will greatly enhance our services by reducing downtime.” In addition, Telemaque explains that the Port will be able to expand its prop- erty between 12 and 16 acres: “We are doing some dredging and deepening of the harbor, which will leave us with some material that we can use to reclaim some land. That will allow us to do additional services.We’re looking at maybe adding some dry-box storage, empty container storage, or relocating some warehouses from the city that we can move down to the Port. So, we’ll be trying to industrialize that new, reclaimed area.” Enthusiasm for the new port is build- ing both within the country and without. “It’s the talk of the town, and also the first port that is going to be redone in the subregion,” Telemaque remarks. “All of our ports in the subregion are more than 50 years old and we are the first country to upgrade our port, so, no doubt, there’ll be others looking to see what we do; how we can enhance the environment.We are challenged by that. If you get to go first, we’re hoping that we can do it right. I think we can put all the pieces together and I’m very excited about the product that we have. “I’m more excited, however, about the possibilities that the project brings and about how well we can utilize the facility to bring about the necessary economic and social transformation that these sorts of infrastructure projects should bring. There’s a tendency to focus on the con-