Profile - David Jean-Marie

Nimble mind at the helm of BPI

The reputation of Barbados and the port, Bridgetown, has been greatly enhanced in recent years by the decision in 2004 to create a limited liability company, Barbados Port Inc, in place of the old Barbados Port Authority. One man who has been closely involved in this transition is David Jean-Marie, now chief executive of BPI, who talked to Caribbean Maritime about his job and his aspirations for the country’s maritime sector.

David Jean-Marie clearly enjoys a challenge. When he joined the staff of Barbados Port Authority in 1987 it was a public-sector organization with an old-style attitude to commerce and revenue.

Although the port authority was starting to see the benefits of computerization in the mid 1980s, the physical infrastructure and cargo handling equipment of Bridgetown Port were becoming out of date and inefficient.

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