There seems to be no end in sight to the completion of the project at the Grenada Ports Authorities Grenville branch and traders (traffickers) are in silent protest as they voice their dismay over the slow paste at which the work is ongoing.
According to some disgruntled traders, they have been waiting for the past months but, to them, it seems the project is taking much longer than anticipated.
They are of the view that this has become a burning issue that must be addressed forthwith, so that operation at the Grenville Port can resume, making it easier for traffickers to ply our trade between Grenada and Trinidad rather than having to use the St Georges Port.
The Grenville Port project started just before the June 23rd general election and residents were told that the project should have been completed within six weeks. At the commencement of work, it was said that the project consisted of the repaving of the jetty which was in a deplorable condition. Nevertheless, we were told that persons were concerned that the manpower employed for the volume of work that had to be done with the completion time given was just not adding up. It is for this reason traders in Grenville are calling on the authorities to now come clear with a reasonable date for the completion of that project so that business can resume.
One Traffickers said, “the close down of operation on the Grenville port he said have not only impacted upon us as traders but it also meant a severe blow to the economy as this is the Grenville port brings in thousands of dollars in revenue to the Government of Grenada, and a prolong closure means thousands of dollars in losses.”
He went on, “many of us cease operation as we were told that we may then have to use the port in St. Georges as an alternative, but this he said, ” could be extremely stressful.”
There are a few traders who started to utilize the St Georges port but shortly after they started complaining of the difficulties they are experiencing.
The carnival celebrations are days away, and we were told it’s the first time in years as traffickers in Grenville were not able to bring in goods from Trinidad into Grenville. Their views while the project was necessary the timing, they think was a bad one.
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