Port plans revealed
Melford container terminal to bring 300 jobs
GUYSBOROUGH - After months of speculation about development plans for the Melford area, The Journal has learned that a Halifax-based company plans to build a modern container terminal in the Guysborough County community.
Sources close to the project said Trident Holdings Inc. intends to establish a deep-water container terminal near the entrance to the Strait of Canso along the Guysborough County shore. The facility would take advantage of dramatically increasing container traffic from Asia which travels to eastern North America via the Suez Canal.
A terminal at Melford has been under consideration for a number of years, but the increasing congestion of existing terminals (the West Coast is pretty much at capacity now and East Coast terminals are expected to be at capacity soon) has made the company step up its efforts on the project this year.
The growing size of container ships is also a challenge for some existing ports, furthering the case for a modern container terminal at Melford's ice-free port. The Melford location is said to be "ideally situated" to act as a transfer point for goods from Asia - slightly closer to shipping lanes from Europe than the port of Halifax. Sources say the company's market assessment indicates the Melford terminal is a viable project. The facility is to be 100 per cent financed by the private sector.
The project is expected to create approximately 300 direct jobs and significant economic spinoffs. Most of those jobs will be in Melford, including stevedores and positions in logistics, transportation and administration, with wages competitive with other container terminals. Goods arriving at the port would be transported to major centres in North America by rail and sea.
Sources said Trident has engaged Transystems Corporation of Norfolk, Virginia to carry out a feasibility study on the project and has secured land in the Melford Industrial Park. A formal announcement on Trident's intentions for Melford is expected within the next couple of months. Ground breaking is expected to take place in 2007. Site preparation and construction will take 18 months.
Company officials expect the Melford terminal to be a "natural complement" to the Port of Halifax, as opposed to competing with it.
The District of Guysborough has indicated in the past that it was in discussions with parties interested in industrial development at Melford, although it has been unable to reveal details because of confidentiality agreements. When asked about this specific project on Tuesday, warden Lloyd Hines said it was "no surprise to council that things are crystallizing around Melford."
Hines said Melford is a "world-class port opportunity," which are getting scarce around the world and particularly on the coasts of North America. If this project comes to fruition, Hines said it will "mean people will live here with the confidence that they have a future and that their kids can stay here and not worry about having to travel out West to get a job."
The warden said it's important for the community and all three levels of government to get behind these kinds of industrial projects for Guysborough County.
"If we don't stop the outflow of our sons and daughters…we will become a barren community of vacationers."
Hines said it's important that the provincial and federal governments support these kinds of projects, something the municipality has already done. Guysborough council met with the community in the fall to begin the process of rezoning four parcels of land at Melford for heavy industrial use in order to provide water access for new developments in the area.
"The municipality is firmly behind these projects; we firmly support Melford," said Hines. "It's high time the other levels of government clued in and gave the rural areas of Nova Scotia an opportunity to survive."
