SAJ president, managing committee returned unopposed

Roger Hinds has been returned unopposed as president of the Shipping Association of Jamaica (SAJ) for the 2011 period.

Vice-president of the SAJ, Kim Clarke, was also returned unopposed, while the other members of the managing committee were returned en bloc.

The elections were held during the 72nd annual general meeting of the SAJ last Friday, at its Fourth Avenue offices.

Hinds expressed his gratitude for the confidence placed in him and the team to continue to put forward the needs of the membership of the association.

"I am very heartened by your decision here today. We are going to continue to serve you and advance the plans for the improvement of Port Bustamante," Hinds said.

His focus

He noted that his focus would continue to be the development of the shipping industry. He said, under his leadership, the Shipping Association will seek out new ways of serving its members. He cited as one aim, the deepening of the labour hire function of the SAJ, explaining his intent to see the industry rely more on the association to provide the highly trained, energetic workers for which it had become known.

Hinds also said that the implementation of an electronic trading platform, the expansion of Port Computer Services Ltd, an SAJ subsidiary, and the improvement of the roads and drains in Newport West, would also be priority. The latter, he said, would pave the way forward for the development of the community into an industrial park.

The SAJ is a registered trade union which represents 77 members in the shipping industry spanning shipping agents, terminal operators, stevedoring companies, hauliers, non-vessel operating common carriers, ship owners and operators, customs brokers and freight forwarders, as well as providers of business support services to the port community.