Government is looking to lease a new ferry to replace the docked MV Lady Northcote on the North West route and has promised two new ships for the route next year.
“The Minister of Public Infrastructure was authoried to start negotiating immediately to look into the first instance of leasing a new vessel from overseas, and in the second instance, we have already starting talking with the government of India to build two new vessels for that route,” Cabinet Secretary Joseph Harmon told a post-Cabinet media briefing yesterday.
Harmon disclosed that Cabinet approved $69M for the docking and repair of the Lady Northcote but President David Granger and his ministers aired concerns not only about the feasibility of maintaining the old vessels but sea travel availability for persons, especially residents of Region One.
During his 2015 presidential campaign, Granger had argued that the retention of the aging Lady Northcote,
