The bosses at the Dominica Air and Seaport Authority – DASPA – say they are looking at other options to try to bring in revenue to make up for finances being lost because of the demise of the banana industry.
DASPA officials are conceding that banana in its prime helped generate much needed revenue for the country’s main seaport at Fond Cole.
The industry has been hit by the eroding of the preferential market status of countries of the African Caribbean Pacific group including Dominica, following the protracted banana war waged at the World Trade Organisation by Latin American banana producing states who argued that Europe’s banana regime was discriminatory, a position backed by the United States.
That process hit Windward Islands bananas hard, with many farmers in Dominica subsequently abandoning their farms and moving out of the industry.
Port Authority officials here say they too have suffered because the volume of bananas being exported has declined, with less traffic on the port resulting in less revenue for DASPA.
“We have been struggling with the finances of DASPA. There has been a massive reduction since the advent of the demise of the banana industry,” DASPA Chairman Dermot Southwell told a local radio audience.
He said the authority was looking at sources of revenue generation, including the question of transshipment of containers.
Southwell says if that aspect of DASPA plans takes off, the shortfall experienced from the loss of banana revenue could be replaced by the finance gained from the proposed transshipment initiative.
The DASPA chairman said finding ways of keeping the authority afloat would be a major priority in 2012.
He did not give figures to indicate just how bad the situation was.
DASPA HAS TOO MANY IDLE FOLKS WORKIN ON THE PORT BECAUS OF MY CONSTRUCTION I VISITED THERE SEVERALS TIMES. ALWAYS PLAYING WITH NAILS AND TALKING ON CELLPHONE OR LAUGHING. FROM THE TAIL GATE OFFICE TO THE SHEDS….FOR THE SECURITY OH TOO MANY, THERE ARE MORE SECURITY GUARDS THAN BUSINESS TRANSACTIONS. PLEASE INVITE AN INDEPENDENT HR OFFICE TO CONDUCT A REVIEW.
OH PLEASE…WE ALL KNOW THE REASON FOR DASPA’S FINANCIAL TROUBLES….DASPA IS A HIGHLY POLITICAL INSTITUTE…EVERY POLITICIAN KEEP SENDING THIER PEAPLE TO WORK WITH DASPA.
WHEN WE CAN BE HONEST ABOUT DASPA BEING THE LABOUR PARTY DUMPING GROUND WE WILL START TO SEE THAT DASPA IS OVERSTAFFED.
DASPA its simple , start charging American Eagle landing fee’s, you should not have bought that big expensive truck to carry cargo once a week from the airports, when we use to get our cargo five days a week ,and you have way to much paper work to clear a small package,these forms are imported and expensive to print and ship to you, at canefield it was way easier, with only two steps, now its about five steps which means five diffrent staff ,do the maths
them ploiticians that put daspa in that situation, there have more uneducated people working there than any other institution in dominica, they just send them down and bardo could not say, hey i have enought… what a foresighted government..
i need i job there as a security but they always turn down my application, not even a reply
Everything life is cycle! So it was with the economy.
but it doesnt take a rocket scientist to know that DASPA is extremly over staffed.
we often wonder where do they generate revenue for that oversized organisation.
DASPA in my view is pretty much a loose animal farm without focus and direction, just take a look at the surrounding at Melville Hall and that will tell you the story.
the gate approaching the Melville Hall tell alot about the management capabilities etc..thats site 1 WITH A THUMPS DOWN.
And the rest is history, sorry to say just not appealing to any developer or investor when they arrive and depart…
very lack lustre, maybe they should raise the stakes higher and look for a qualified aviation person to run the airport section someone who knows about airport operations and logistics and someone in tune with marinetime operations at the highest order.
it would bring new focus to mordern ways of inovation in my view….the old stale ways of conducting affairs will contunue to hurt Dominica in my view..
Hahaha! So you mean to say the plight of the farmer for improved markets and export of produce is flight as far reaching as the big bad DASPA!