Cabinet okays PWC consultancy contract for Kingston terminal privatization plan

Jamaica's cabinet has approved a US$3.33mn contract for PricewaterhouseCoopers ( PWC) to provide consultancy services for phase II of the Kingston container terminal privatization project. National contracts commission NCC approved the contract in June. The terminal privatization is keeping with the government's aim to divest itself of the business, which can be run privately, according to information and public service minister Arthur Williams. Former prime minister Bruce Golding announced plans to privatize the debt-burdened port in February 2009. The terminal is currently operated by the Port Authority of Jamaica. Local port operator Kingston Wharves Limited (KWL) is interested in buying the terminal, CEO Grantley Stephenson told local paper The Jamaica Gleaner. The ministry of transport and works (MTW) is planning to expand and upgrade the Kingston container terminal as well as several other ports under its long-term national development plan, Vision 2030. The Kingston terminal handled 1.89mn TEUs in 2010, making it the fourth busiest port in the region, according to figures from the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean ( Eclac).