Government is considering cutting down Rat Island to create additional land for container storage as Antigua and Barbuda pursues plans to expand the St John’s port and develop it into a larger transshipment hub.
Gov Eyes Rat Island
Prime Minister Gaston Browne disclosed the proposal, saying the port does not currently have enough space to accommodate the volume of containers expected under the expansion plan.
“That hill, that’s Rat Island that we intend to cut down to create more land,” Browne said. “By so doing, we will have more space for container storage.”
The proposal forms part of a wider push to increase cargo activity through Antigua and Barbuda. Browne said government is in discussions with a US entity that could become an anchor operator or tenant at the port, while also seeking to grow transshipment links between Panama, the Dominican Republic and Antigua.
He said Antigua currently receives two shipments weekly through the Dominican Republic, with cargo moving from Panama to the Dominican Republic, then to Antigua before being distributed to other islands.
But the plan to alter Rat Island raises a number of questions that have not yet been publicly answered.
Browne did not say how much of the island would be removed, how many acres of land would be created, whether an environmental impact assessment has been commissioned, or what approvals would be required before work could begin.
There was also no indication of the projected cost, the source of financing, or whether residents and environmental groups will be consulted on the proposal.
Government has already reclaimed about nine acres of land on the northern side of the port area.
