CARICOM is gridlocked logistically, says PMAC chairman

WESTERN BUREAU:

Darwin Telemaque, chairman of the Port Management Association of the Caribbean (PMAC), says CARICOM is gridlocked logistically, as a result of systemic disconnection and outdated colonial-era regulations.

Telemaque, who was speaking at the just-concluded Caribbean Investment Forum in Montego Bay, warned that, unless the Caribbean integrates its port infrastructure and customs systems, it risks falling further behind in the global logistics race.

“I think we are stuck, not because Jamaica is moving ahead, but because CARICOM is stuck,” said Telemaque. “We are stuck when CMA CGM’s (Compagnie Maritime d’Affretement – Compagnie Generale Maritime) 400 million dollars are the only terminal in CARICOM and that terminal is not a part of the CARICOM discussion for what happens in transport and logistics. It’s not even mentioned. It’s like it doesn’t even exist.”

In speaking on the panel’s theme, ‘Smart, Green, Connected — or Just Stuck? Breaking the Caribbean’s Logistics Gridlock’, Telemaque pointed to the Kingston Freeport Terminal, calling it the only globally connected port in the region, yet one that delivers minimal logistical or transshipment support to CARICOM itself.

“Kingston Freeport Terminal is the largest operating terminal in CARICOM. It is the only globally connected port in CARICOM, there is none else, but it also delivers very little logistics and transshipment support to CARICOM. It is facilitating the northern interest of CMA CGM,” he said.

Telemaque further argued that much of the region’s dysfunction stems from inherited legal and regulatory systems that no longer serve the Caribbean’s needs.

“The regulations we have — we are stuck to British concepts that we can’t find a way to rid ourselves of. Why do we have to do it that way? Why are we living with the customs laws that they gave us?” he asked.

Telemaque cited tariffs and customs rigidity as the most pressing challenges choking the region’s logistics potential.

“The tariff issue is by far the most quintessential challenge that faces our logistics, not shipping and transport, because we can’t get the Special Economic Zones to function very well. Customs believes that goods coming into that space are going to infiltrate the domestic market, so it’s not attractive to invest in Jamaica.”

Still, Telemaque was quick to highlight Jamaica’s untapped potential to lead the region, if the country steps up.

“I am saying to Jamaica: you need to wake up. Take Kingston Wharves’ terminal concept to the rest of our ports, instead of having Turkish investors coming to buy the ports of the Eastern Caribbean. Show up and let’s have these discussions,” he urged. “We want to have the same efficiencies you have, but we are so stuck with little islands. That’s where we are stuck”

“The water sticks to us, breaks the shackles of these lines that we’ve drawn on ourselves, and let’s build a region where each of us makes the other stronger,” he added.

Looking ahead, Telemaque warned of a major shift looming on the horizon with the European Union-CARIFORUM Economic Partnership Agreement, which will bring zero tariffs by 2035.

“What do we do if we are stuck? Are we getting there? Who is preparing for that time? Who is advising the governments to get ready when you are not going to have that ability to tax those goods? How do you create a tax space to sustain yourselves?”

Gloria Henry, vice-president of BPO and Logistics at the Port Authority of Jamaica, also backed the call for regional modernisation and pointed to legislative reforms now underway in Jamaica as a model that the rest of CARICOM can emulate.

“What we need in the region to un-stuck ourselves is greater collaboration. We need to start speaking as one unit,” she said. “We need to invest strategically in developing our individual infrastructure, and then collaborate around the best practices that work for Jamaica, that have worked for Barbados and Trinidad, and make that more for the Caribbean.”

Henry called for a regional Port Community System and emphasised the importance of improving rules of origin and clearing up customs ambiguities that frustrate trade.

She pointed to Jamaica’s move to repeal its 1941 Customs Law, a vestige of British colonial rule, and replace it with a modern 2025 Customs Act.

“Within that, there is greater flexibility, greater predictability, because that was one of the challenges we faced in Jamaica, where at no point you knew what the interpretation was going to be,” she explained.

“Different customs officials had different interpretations. It was very discombobulating. One provision contradicted another. So, sometimes you could be in dispute with Customs for weeks while your cargo was sitting at the port,” she said, referencing the 1941 Customs Law.

“I think this new law will help to drive logistics and drive greater trade. It’s a benchmark in Jamaica that we can share with the rest of the region,” she added.