Best wishes for a successful next 85 years

THE PORT Authority of Jamaica (PAJ) extends heartiest congratulations to the Shipping Association of Jamaica (SAJ) on its 85th anniversary. We congratulate the SAJ on its outstanding impact on the development of Jamaica’s maritime sector during this period. Since its inception in January 1939, amid the labour upheavals at Kingston’s waterfront, through the many changes impacting shipping and cargo handling, the Shipping Association has played a central role in the growth and evolution of the industry in Jamaica. SAJ’s role during the pre- and post-independence periods, working alongside Jamaican leaders, Sir Alexander Bustamante, and Norman Manley, now national heroes, critical to the industrial relations stability on our ports during those early years, and has remained so in the subsequent decades.

A hallmark of the Shipping Association has been its willingness and capacity to collaborate with the Government to promote sustainability and growth. At the point when the Government signalled its intention to establish the Port Authority of Jamaica in 1972, the SAJ understood the value of collaboration and cooperation and embraced the Port Authority of Jamaica.

A clear sign of the collaboration between the SAJ and the PAJ was the secondment in 1975 of Mr Noel Hylton, the then secretary of the SAJ, to serve as the president and CEO of the PAJ. Under the leadership of Mr Hylton and the presidents of the SAJ, the two organisations worked jointly to modernise the industrial relations and labour practices in the sector while embracing the changes in technology as they emerged.

In 1997, amid the continued changes in cargo handling systems and changing labour practices in the internationally competitive transshipment sector, the PAJ supported the establishment of the Muirhead Board of Enquiry to investigate the impasse between the SAJ and the Joint Industrial Trade Unions. Chaired by Ambassador David Muirhead, Professor Rex Nettleford, former vice-chancellor of the UWI, and Gordon Shirley, the Board of Enquiry’s findings led to a far-reaching set of changes in labour relations in the Port of Kingston.

In recent times, both the PAJ and the SAJ have continued to evolve in accordance with the changes in international shipping. We are pleased to have collaborated in the development and implementation of the Port Community System, the first in the region. Currently, the SAJ and the PAJ are collaborating with other stakeholders to redevelop the entire area of the Port of Kingston with a view of transforming it into a modern, worldclass, secure and environmentally sustainable port area, and the home of an international centre of excellence in logistics. We are confident that these collective goals will be achieved.

The Port Authority of Jamaica applauds the Shipping Association of Jamaica on its 85th anniversary and we extend best wishes for a very successful and rewarding next 85 years.

Thank you.

PROF GORDON SHIRLEY

President

Port Authority of Jamaica