Industrial parks
with
a
new
twist
Port Spain
Petroleumworldtt.com
28 07 07
WITH
THE AIM to change the face of industrial estates
in Trinidad, Enterprise Development Company
Limited (eTecK) opened the first of its new industrial
parks last Wednesday in Debe. It is the first of
eight such parks which are geared towards the development
of non-energy sector based industries in the country.
Anthony Arjune, senior commercial analyst of the
state-owned company, said the plan was to create
a new image for industrial estates in the country.
eTecK had inherited estates such as O'Meera and
Trincity from the Property and Industrial Development
Company of Trinidad and Tobago and had seen the
need for an industrial makeover.
"We wanted the new parks to be a vast improvement
over the old (industrial parks) that were full
of warehouses and factory shells; It's not gonna
look like a concrete jungle," Arjune said.
The new parks, which are designed like mini-cities,
are self contained communities which are being
built with underground utility lines, internal
supplies of natural gas and telecommunications
services, wide roads to accommodate industrial
traffic and storage of containers. The parks are
also expected to contain a building for meetings
and conferences, a food court, an automatic teller
machine and media postal outlet.
Arjune
also underlined eTecK's will to build more environmentally
friendly industrial estates. "At
least 20 per cent of the land is going to be a
green area. In some cases, people driving through
these places are not going to know they are in
an industrial park," he said.
Trade and Industry Minister Kenneth Valley delivers
the keynote speech at the opening ceremony of
the new industrial park at Debe.
Arjune said eTecK hoped to play a more hands-on
role in the management of the park.
"eTecK will serve as the active manager or
active landlord. We will respond to any queries
the tenants may have and seek to address whatever
issues that arise," he said.
The parks also are intended to expand the range
of industries in Trinidad. During his speech at
the opening of the Debe Park, Minister of Trade
and Industry Kenneth Valley said that the country
was moving away from energy sector based industries
and the parks would serve as the launch pad of
numerous other manufacturing industries.
"Trinidad and Tobago is at an interesting
juncture in its history. Our economy continues
to be strong and resilient. And though fuelled
by energy revenues, the manufacturing and services
sectors are also making a contribution. We are
determined to leverage this success to move forward
by embracing the concepts and trends that drive
successful economies. One of those involves installing
critical infrastructure both 'hard' and 'soft'
as a platform for economic activity that will take
us successfully into the future," Valley said.
The Debe Park consists of 11 half-acre plots which
already have been snapped up by eager entrepreneurs.
"This is the first of the new line of industrial
parks whose focus is on providing critical support
for the manufacturer or service provider, in an
environmentally friendly and optimally designed
park structured to suit a range of light manufacturing
and service activities," added Valley.
One of the future tenants of the industrial park,
RSA Stationary Distributors and Office Furnishing
is looking forward to establishing its warehouse
and assisting in the development of the Debe community.
"The allocation of the land at the park is
a very good idea and it is good to see it is being
put to productive use. The park will contribute
to development of the Debe community and we are
glad that we will be part of the development of
the area," said Ray Sigoolam, financial controller
of the company.
Sigoolam
was among the five representatives who symbolically "staked their claim" of
the land for their respective companies.
Other industrial parks are expected to be opened
at Reform Village, San Fernando; Factory Road,
Chaguanas; Point Fortin; Preysal; Dow Village,
California, Endeavour, Chaguanas and Frederick
Settlement, Caroni over the next year.
Story
by Peter Christopher from the Trinidad Express
Trinidad
Express, Wednesday, October 24th 2007
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