Tortola Port Partners & Gov’t sign HoU for improved tourism product
The HoU was signed yesterday March 27, 2012 in the conference room of the Premier’s Office and was developed as a working Memorandum which sets out preliminary understandings between the Government and Tortola Port Partners Limited. Deliberations will begin immediately and continue up to a period of 90 days during which time, according to Premier Dr. D. Orlando Smith, Government will attempt to secure a formal agreement on terms that are mutually beneficial.
Premier Smith further said Government received proposals from three different companies and following the initial review determined to further advance their discussion with the Tortola Port Partners Limited, in collaboration with the British Virgin Islands Ports Authority. “As a Government in previous years we made efforts to develop the land side of the cruise ship dock but those efforts were discontinued. So in this light and in furthering the responsible development of the cruise industry, Government is pleased to announce that it will begin discussions with Tortola Ports Partners Limited for the development of the Road Town Cruise pier and other land side amenities....This Heads of Understanding will be the platform on which both parties would be able, in confidence, to negotiate a possible binding agreement to take the impending cruise pier development forward. Both parties will now work closely and exclusively as far as is commercially reasonable to finalise this negotiation."
According to Minister for Communications and Works, Mark Vanterpool, the HoU gives both parties the terms of understanding to negotiate a way forward over the next 90 days before the plans for the expansion of the cruise ship pier, development of the land side and improvements to Road Town are brought to the public for discussion and input.
Government envisages the 3-phase project to be completed over a 3-year period. The first phase will include the extension of the Cruise Ship Pier, which is to be lengthened and widened; the second phase will be the development of the land side; and the third phase will be improvements to Road Town for improved residents and visitors experience.
Tortola Port Partners Limited is a joint venture of the Jay Cashman Group and the United Infrastructure Group (UIG) with the participating cruise line being Disney.
Mr. J. Todd Malphrus, Director of Tortola Ports Partners Limited said his company was “very excited about the opportunity to work with the BVI Government on the port of Road Town and we look forward to creating a product that benefits both the people of the BVI and future visitors”.
Disney Cruise Line was represented by Mr. Hugh Darley, who delivered a brief message by President of Disney Cruise line, Karl L. Holz, who he said was at the time in the Bahamas on the maiden voyage of one of Disney’s new ship “Fantasy”. Mr. Darley noted that Mr. Holz was also excited about the opportunity to work with the UIG/Cashman team and the Government of the Virgin Islands for the development of the Road Town Cruise Ship Pier and port. “As Disney has expanded their fleet they began to look at Tortola very much as part of their Disney Cruise line experience,” Mr. Holz wrote.
Mr. Darley, who is also the President of IDEA Inc, which is a subsidiary of the UIG Company, said there is a regional trend to seek opportunities where private and public partnerships could provide opportunities to develop ports, whether airports or sea ports, as well as infrastructure. “So this is pretty typical of what is happening in the Caribbean and we have been involved in several of these types of approaches in the Caribbean,” Mr. Darley told Virgin Islands News Online.
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