At a time when Gulf cargo hubs will be going head to head to capture new business through the Panama Canal, the money gives Gulfport a leg up on the competition. Port officials also say the project represents a glaring example of Mississippi’s dominance of recovery money.
The Sunday Times Picayune gives Governor Barbour plenty of fuel to move forward with the proposed expansion of the port at Gulfport – although certainly not intended.
For months, officials at the Port of New Orleans have been waving copies of their master plan before elected officials, consultants and anyone else who could help pay for the ambitious slate of initiatives outlined in the document.
But money for the $1 billion expansion has been slow to come as the clock ticks down to 2014, the year a wider channel through the Panama Canal is scheduled to open a new shipping route to the Gulf of Mexico and flood seaports with cargo.The dearth of capital has fueled bitterness about a recent windfall for the Port of Gulfport, the upstart cargo hub fewer than 100 miles from New Orleans. The Mississippi port is poised to undergo a massive expansion bankrolled with $600 million from the federal aid package Mississippi received after Hurricane Katrina. .. Continue reading “NOLA (green) eyes advantage of Gulfport port expansion”
