An agreement on a ferry service between Antigua and Montserrat appears to be close to being finalised, with the remaining paperwork expected to be signed next week.
That’s according to Premier Reuben Meade who gave a brief update on the issue during an interview with journalist Mike Jarvis on 23 November.
When asked to give an update on access to the island, he said: “It seems as though the access issue was not as difficult to resolve as it was made out to be, as it relates to sea access.
“I think we’ve had some traction on that, and there’s some paperwork to be done, and I’m hoping that the paperwork could be done before the end of next week.”
Last month, Meade encouraged listeners to an interview on ZJB Radio to make plans to visit Montserrat this festive season as he promised to have access “sorted out”.
He said it was at the top of his list of priorities as the newly elected leader of the government.
“It will not be one of these expensive ferries where government is paying $10 and $15 million for. It’s a ferry which will be acceptable and appropriate,” he said at the time.
Meade told listeners that Veronica Dorsett-Hector, the government’s new transportation minister, would be responsible for making decisions on the ferry.
“Currently, we’re examining the legal aspects of it, and we will have a full determination on that by the end of this week,” he told listeners on 29 October.
No ferry service
In March, as peak season drew to a close, former premier Joseph E Farrell assured the public that the government would be paying EC$17 million to retain ferry services for another year.
However, on 30 April, the government’s contract with the owners of the V2V Empress came to an end and passenger ferry services stopped running between Montserrat and Antigua.
In June, the Access Division issued a ‘notice of early market engagement’, asking companies to reach out if they had the capacity to supply sea transport services.
Then in October, the government then opened up the bidding process for qualified operators to provide passenger ferry services to and from Montserrat.
There were two time periods up for grabs – the first was three months from February to April 2025, and the second was two years with a start date of 1 May or 1 October 2025.
Since the end of ferry services, the only option for public transport in and out of Montserrat has been via government subsidised Fly Montserrat and SVG Air flights.
