The new ferry service between Guyana, Barbados, and Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) is scheduled to launch in the next three months. Guyana’s President Dr. Irfaan Ali announced this at the XII Annual Consultation with Caribbean Governors of the Inter-American Development Bank on Saturday.
The Marriott Hotel in Kingston, Georgetown, hosted the consultation’s opening ceremony this year in Guyana. Dr. Ali said the boat should be operational in “another two or three months,” although he hopes sooner.
The President said this ferry service shows regional leaders’ new willingness to work together even if the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) is not ready to proceed.
He called this cooperative paradigm a “coalition of the willing.”
“Those who are willing to start an innovative project, we will go ahead, and the others will join when they are ready,” Dr. Ali stated.
A delegation from Guyana, Trinidad & Tobago, and Barbados met last week to discuss ferry service preparations.
According to a news statement from the Ministry of Public Works, country leaders met in Trinidad on February 15 and decided to implement many systems within two months.
Outside the boat service, the president discussed Guyana’s macro-development ambitions, including infrastructural and environmental development. The President stressed that Guyana’s success will benefit the region.
President Ali chairs CARICOM. The 46th CARICOM Heads of Government Meeting begins Sunday in Guyana. Regional development topics are expected to dominate.