AmericasPorts and Logistics

Jamaica approves privatisation of Kingston Container Terminal

Kingston: Jamaica has reached an agreement to privatise the island nation’s main port at Kingston.

Under the deal the state will divest itself of interests in the Kingston Container Terminal (KCT) and hand over its running to a new private company called Terminal Link/CMA CGM Consortium.

All current staff will be laid off and Terminal Link will then hire its own staff, although many of the same people are expected to be rehired.

Jamaica’s Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller said the deal should be officially signed by April 7.

Under privatisation Terminal Link will run the port under a concession which will include the expansion, financing, operation, maintenance, and transfer of the terminal.

The cost of the sale and the length of the concession were not disclosed but the agreement does forecast the dredging optimization and expansion of KCT to make it accessible to post-Panamax vessels.

Donal Scully

With 28 years experience writing and editing for newspapers in the UK and Hong Kong, Donal is now based in California from where he covers the Americas for Splash as well as ensuring the site is loaded through the Western Hemisphere timezone.
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