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Contact:
Amanda Faye Clarke
Friday, November 20, 2009 – Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation,
Senator the Honourable Allen Chastanet, says government will soon establish a
maritime office within his ministry.
The initiative which was recently approved by Cabinet, will work on establishing
a ship registry system focussing primarily on the yachting sector.
Minister Chastanet says government will continue to build on investments made by
the Island Global Yachting(IGY), in providing world-class support and docking
services to the yachting sector, making Saint Lucia the capital for yachting in
the Southern Caribbean.
“ We often see the boats come here for ARC, spend 2-3 weeks and then motor off
to other destinations in which they can get better repairs and better support
facilities. I think the level of investment IGY made here in Saint Lucia, with
the addition of the mega yachts really opened up this opportunity and the
government fully intends to take advantage of this additional input into our
destination,” Chastanet said.
Minister Chastanet believes the establishment of the maritime office will afford
many more Saint Lucians an avenue to learn new skills in lucrative areas of the
tourism sector.
He says boat repairs, and fibre-glassing will be highly sought after trades in
the near future.
“We think that money is not made on the duties on the boats coming to Saint
Lucia. The money that's made is in the small businesses that support the
yachting industry and that's how we're going to be assessing our success down
the road.”
An announcement on the selection of a director of the maritime office will be
made by the government in the coming weeks.
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