To the Editor,
Under the astounding leadership of Mayor Douglas and the port authority, there’s a proposal for regional economic diversification that would see Ucluelet become a transshipment hub for container ships.
Their cargoes would be sorted there and put on barges destined for Port Metro Vancouver and “possibly ... to Seattle and Tacoma”, according to our mayor. The barges could even go up rivers and creeks? Wow!
This “game-changing” proposal is a perfect complement to the role of Port Alberni as an Asian-Pacific Gateway for raw-log exports, a situation much enhanced by the Hon. Mike de Jong when, as Minister of Forests, he allowed private timberlands to be removed from TFL 44 (our area). Ever since, raw-log exports have skyrocketed, particularly this year.
I’m sure that his support for the brilliant idea of unloading container ships and putting their cargoes on barges will greatly help in moving the project forward.
Surely the visions of our mayor and the director of the port authority will soon result in lots of jobs, a new highway and a ring road. Happy days are here again!
Richard Berg,
Port Alberni