The rumbling and disgruntlement began on Wednesday at the Port of Port-of-Spain as daylight broke and the men and women waiting to go to Tobago realized the sole passenger transport vessel servicing the sea bridge between T&T was not visible.
A phone call to a friend later informed that the vessel was still in Tobago and would likely get to Trinidad close to noon, despite the dark ink on tickets indicating a 6.30 pm departure from Trinidad.
The bad news was later confirmed by a port security guard, who told passengers that the port had advertised the sailing would be delayed as there was only one vessel in use.
The T&T spirit, the country’s second passenger vessel, was berthed at the port awaiting repairs.
After months of inconsistent sailings many of the prospective passengers were just grateful there would be a sailing at all.
Since earlier this year, Minister of Works and Transport Rohan Sinanan has been bombarded with questions on the inter-island transport system and has provided answers ranging from sabotage on the vessels to the announcement that both passenger vessels needed repairs and another vessel had been sourced to replace them for a six-month period.
The message to Tobago residents with plans to visit Trinidad, and to Trinidad residents intending to holiday in Tobago, and to business people who have complained of losses has been to wait.
The wait, however, has hit Tobago harder than it has Trinidad.
And while the island appears far from a crisis, residents and business owners said the issue brings a host of challenges for Tobago.
On Wednesday, Richard Boyer, an entrepreneur who lives in east Trinidad but operates a business in Crown Point, said he has lost thousands of dollars in recent months due to the issues with the fast ferry.
“I go to Tobago every week for my fried chicken and chips business, Mountain View Fried Chicken in Crown Point. I carry supplies every week. Chicken and fries and oil and things the place needs,” said Boyer.
On the days he has to travel to the island, Boyer brings over crates of iced freshly processed chicken in a white panel van, along with processed French fries, boxes and other items.
Last month Boyer had to toss thousands of dollars in chicken when the ferry never came and the ice around the chicken melted.
“We went through this before but not regular like this. We lost money coming down here with chicken spoiling and we lost thousands of dollars. We had to stay closed a few times because I wasn’t able to get the supplies across.”
The ferry is Boyer’s only option to get his supplies from Trinidad to his restaurant.
One of his biggest source of frustration is the slowness of the Port Authority in spreading information.
It’s a frustration shared by businessman Khaleel Nabbie, who travels to Tobago by boat and plane several times each month to deliver stock to his computer store.
“I try to sail once a week on the ferry but because of what is going on I take the plane. We need to have vehicles leaving once a week for Tobago to deliver stock for our customers,” Nabbie told the Sunday Guardian.
“When you have a ticket, you come here and get no notification and you hear the boat is leaving Tobago and you won’t leave till 12 noon. That is time and money wasting and it has been going on too long.”
Nabbie usually receives text alerts on his mobile phone regarding changes in the sailing time but received none on Wednesday.
It is small business owners like Nabbie and Boyer who feel the burden caused by the delays in the ferry. It is the caterers, florists, market vendors, food salesmen, boat crew, guest house owners and restaurant owners that see a depletion in people coming to Tobago due to the ferry issues and a corresponding depletion in sales. The bigger companies have a bigger cash flow to buy more stock. While it is hard on them as well, the smaller companies that rely on the day-to-day sales feel it the most.
On the popular Store Bay and Pigeon Point beaches, the numbers of beachgoers remained low between Wednesday and Friday.
Vendors at food huts complained that residents from Trinidad had stopped coming over on weekends.
On Friday there was no sailing from Tobago to Trinidad, trapping passengers, including this reporter on the island an extra day, adding to expenses of an additional night on the island.
The other side of the near-disaster stems from the cargo ferries—the Atlantic Provider and the Trinity Transporter—which are being used to transport goods.
In April the cargo vessel which was previously used by the Port Authority of T&T returned to Spain and was subsequently replaced.
The vessels are being contracted for a one-month period with the option to renew, but this has not solved the problems at the port.
In the Jesus Christ makes the Difference supermarket in Calder Hall, customers passed empty produce isles, while Sonya Browne, a member of the family who owns the business said it was difficult for her 72-year-old father to ship stock to Tobago.
“Daddy used to go down every Tuesday night and come back every Thursday. Now he goes on Sunday and we don’t know when exactly he comes back, maybe Tuesday, maybe Thursday. We get a lot of better deals from Trinidad on things like ginger, melongene...
“Most of what we run out of is vegetable produce, cassava, sweet potatoes, cucumbers, pineapples, paw paw and water is a problem for us.”
Browne said due to the process at the port for cargo shipments, sometimes produce sat on the port for days and had to be thrown away by the time it made its way to Tobago.
“When daddy comes he is grey with the stress of the port. He doesn’t let it deter him from doing it but it is still difficult for him.”
David Wong, businessman and secretary of the Tobago Chamber said in order for the T&T inter-island transport system to be fixed, there needed to have two passenger ferries and two cargo ferries, which needed to be properly maintained.
According to him, the problem of inter-island transport had existed for decades, dating back to the 1930s, receiving a temporary fix in the past three years.
“We as a chamber of commerce saw the ideal situation become a reality in early 2014, four vessels were operating throughout. It was reliable. People could easily come Tobago for a day and return home via the sea bridge. They would just come up by the boat and take the plane to go back home. Once the sea bridge and the air bridge were working properly, the connections were working properly,” Wong said.
He said under present conditions the goods that come over on the cargo ferry are now limited in accessibility and shelf life.
“Things like margarines and cold storage butters, which used to be exposed only for a short time, it is not happening, you are not sure the containers are going to sail.
“They might make it on the boat, it might not. It’s not a four-hour vessel, it’s an eight-hour vessel exposed to more heat.”
He said his business used to ship around six containers per week, but now received two.
“We had a stock before the Galicia left but because we are bringing in less, stock levels could eventually deplete to zero.
“The Tobagonian business person depends on the ferry.”
No response from the chief secretary
So far, Tobago House of Assembly (THA) Chief Secretary Kelvin Charles has addressed the issue by only saying the problems would be resolved soon.
Several phone calls and text messages to Charles were ignored. Attempts to reach him via the THA proved futile. An email was sent to the THA requesting an interview with him.
Sinanan to public: Please be patient
Meanwhile, Sinanan yesterday appealed to the public to be patient just a little while longer as he is promising to resolve issues with the ferry and cargo boat within the next two weeks. Sinanan said efforts were made to alleviate the woes of passengers travelling between Trinidad and Tobago on Friday after the ferry broke down.
