Smoke from Riverton fire impacting Kingston freeport terminal

Operations at the Kingston Freeport Terminal in St Andrew is being impacted by smoke from the Riverton Dump, which has been on fire for more than a week.

In a statement this morning, Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation Karl Samuda said poor visibility has made it difficult to operate cranes and straddle carriers safely at the terminal.

The terminal handles most of the transhipment cargo that passes through Kingston.

“We have worked very hard to restore Kingston to its place as the premiere transshipment centre in the region and we cannot afford for vessels to be delayed within our ports because of smoke. As a government, we are doing everything in our power to ensure that the smoke clears quickly and we are committed to finding a long-term solution to this problem,” said Samuda, who has responsibility for operations on the island’s ports.

He commended the management and staff at the terminal whose hard work, despite difficult conditions, have “helped to minimise the disruptions caused by the smoke.”

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