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By Kisean Joseph
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The Coast Guard will be relocated from the Deep Water Harbour to Camp Blizzard as part of an expansion project aimed at transforming the port into a major regional transshipment hub, officials announced during Thursday’s post-Cabinet press briefing.
Director General of Communications in the Office of the Prime Minister Maurice Merchant disclosed that the Ministry of Works has been tasked with preparing facilities at Camp Blizzard to accommodate the Coast Guard’s move from its current location at in St John’s.
“The Ministry of Works has been charged with preparing an area there at Camp Blizzard, which has been previously used for similar purposes with the RSS and so forth, to get it ready for the movement of the Coast Guard,” Merchant said during the weekly briefing.
The relocation will be completed once accommodation becomes available for both office space and staff quarters. Merchant noted that Camp Blizzard already has the necessary infrastructure, including “a regular dock available right there for accommodating the Coast Guard.”
The Coast Guard relocation represents just one component of a much larger port expansion initiative that has been facilitated by the Chinese. According to Merchant, the expansion plans include the transformation of the island adjacent to the current port facility.
“There’s always been plans, for example, the island adjacent to the port, there are plans for transforming that to become a part of the port, the whole Coast Guard area,” he said. “So, they have a plan in place for the expansion, which will lead to the entire transformation.”
Government officials have set their sights high for the transformed port facility, with plans to establish Antigua as a major player in regional maritime trade. Merchant outlined the government’s vision for the expanded port’s role in the Caribbean shipping landscape.
“The aim, obviously, is to ensure that the port here in Antigua becomes, if not the major transshipment point within this region, but one of the major ports,” he stated.
The development comes as Caribbean nations seek to position themselves as strategic maritime hubs, capitalizing on their geographic location along major shipping routes between North and South America, Europe, and Asia.
While the government has confirmed that preparations are underway for the Coast Guard’s relocation to Camp Blizzard, no specific timelines were provided for either the move or the completion of the broader port expansion project.
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