MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Falklands new port: advance team of construction company arrives in Stanley

MLA Barry Elsby said: “progression of the port is key to economic development and it is reassuring that, despite the pandemic disruption, everyone is working hard”

An advance team from BAM Nuttall Ltd that will design and build a new port in the Falkland Islands arrived this week in Stanley and is complying with their 14-day quarantine, ahead of their extensive stakeholder engagement program, which is scheduled to begin in the first two weeks of next month.

 They are expected to meet with industry sectors across the Falkland Islands to gain a better understanding of local business’ requirements and how the new port can help to facilitate further economic growth.

There will also be a community meeting, to provide the public with an overview of the project and its proposed timelines; this is due to take place in the Town Hall on Wednesday 16 September, from 5pm to 6:30pm. To help manage numbers, people wishing to attend should register first by emailing port.questions@sec.gov.fk.

Director of Development and Commercial Services, Catherine Silva Donayre said: “Since the project started up in July 2020 a lot of work has already taken place, and I would like to thank the team here in the islands and at BAM for all their efforts so far. The stakeholder engagement will be important so that we can all better understand how the new port can support economic growth for the islands.”

BAM is completing procurement for upcoming initial works, and a number of local suppliers are being awarded contracts. This includes Ajax for a topographic survey, Atlink and Stanley Services for support and logistics services, Martech for marine equipment and SAERI for environmental work. Enviros Ltd has been commissioned to carry out an unexploded ordinance and hydrographic surveys and BAM’s in-house engineering teams will be arriving in the next few weeks to carry out the ground and site investigations. All those arriving from the UK will be subject to the two week quarantine period.

Development and Commercial Services Portfolio Holder, MLA Barry Elsby said: “The progression of the port is key to our economic development so it is reassuring that, despite the disruption caused by the pandemic, everyone is working hard to move this project forward. I am looking forward to meeting the team and to seeing the outputs from their stakeholder sessions, which will help shape more detailed plans for the port development.”