Saint Lucia To Benefit From Planned Regional Ferry Service

A Caribbean private sector group plans to launch a regional ferry service by year-end that would eventually benefit several regional countries, including Saint Lucia. The group, Connect Caribe, anticipates securing the US$50 million needed to make a modern regional cargo and ferry service a reality. Newsroom Guyana reported that a passenger and cargo service would benefit Guyana, Barbados, Saint Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago, St. Vincent, Grenada, Dominica, Antigua, and other eastern Caribbean islands. Connect Caribe envisions that a cargo service would later ply the Guyana and Suriname routes. Three vessels would be involved in weekly and daily round trips transporting up to 8,000 passengers and goods. However, the investors have indicated that their initiative is separate from the Barbados, Guyana, and Trinidad and Tobago plan to start a new ferry service among them. Dr. Andre Thomas is the chairman and chief executive officer of Upturn Funds Caribbean-Pleion Group Inc. On Tuesday, Thomas told a news conference that the latest proposed ferry initiative would complement the planned service among Barbados, Guyana, and Trinidad and Tobago. “There is a significant discussion on how we can integrate and tackle this huge opportunity and problem. I believe that where there are problems, there are...