bvc_june2017

40 41 Lopez Equipment Co. Ltd. www.lopezequipment.bz | info@lopezequipment.bz Providing trucking from the Port of Belize to anywhere countrywide Additional services include crane rentals, road and bridge construction, and dredging THE PORT OF BELIZE icant automation and IT improvements,” Vasquez says. “That brings a lot of efficien- cies to the Port.We have an online portal where shipping agents can identify and follow a container from the time that it comes into the port, when it leaves, and when it’s coming back. Those are very important services that we provide for the shipping agents that never existed before.” Other improvements include the auto- mation of accounts and payroll, the inte- gration of operations, the improved layout of the container yard, defining where each container is located, and beefing up the security at the access gates by being able to better identify and check in vehicles. In looking toward the future, Vasquez says he would like to see progress on two important fronts. One would be to build a bulk facility that can facilitate the export of cargo that is now only containerized. “There is no bulk exportation that is cur- rently happening,” he laments. “With the agro-productive sector in Belize growing significantly, the lack of a bulk facility tends to create a bottleneck to improved services. Building a bulk facility would significantly improve the exportation of the agro-pro- ductive sector and also will allow for the sector to attract better customers in the Caribbean and North America, and even Europe.While we have the products to sell, there are some markets that are not prepared to accept cargo in container- ized formats because of the costs of container handling. So, with a bulk facility, I believe that there is a significant potential for Belize to ex- port a lot more of its products which, of course, brings in more foreign currency.” A second goal is to build a docking facility for cruise ships. Currently, the Port is too shallow and passengers must be tendered to the Fort Street Tourism Village from their cruise ships anchored offshore. “I think Belize and Cayman, if I’m not mistaken, are the only two countries in the Caribbean that still do not have a docking facility for cruise ships,” Vasquez states. “So, that also is a potential possibility - that this port can develop, design, and build a docking facility. Of course, that is a significant project to take on; it is something we have been looking at, and are also in negotiations with the government