A Column about Barcadera, Happiness and a Pulled Plug

NEW CONTAINER HARBOR. Congratulations to all stakeholders involved. The island’s container harbor has recently moved to Barcadera, and as a result, the large multi wheel trailers hauling those containers, which have been clogging Oranjestad for decades, now get loaded and off loaded away from the heart of town. We no longer have to wait for them while they get in and out of traffic at the entrance to the Oranjestad harbor.  How do you spell relief? You spell it Barcadrahhhh.

To make this project happen, ASTEC the company operating the harbor, and APA, the Aruba Port Authority partnered with a number of local businesses such as META CORP, determined to move the operation away from town to an area past the airport.

It took years, but it happened. Naturally, the activity of loading and discharging ships requires good logistics, and as a result of the decision to move the harbor it was agreed that ASTEC will be making the shore side investment in the new development, building docks, and offices and warehouses, buying cranes and forklifts and whatever it takes to operate the port while the Aruba Port Authority, APA, will be making the maritime investment, I am not sure what it entails but I am confident it takes a huge financial outlay to acquire anything from vessels to technology.  Fast forward to March 2016. It worked. Together, the island was given a new container harbor, with a total investment of 120 million dollars.  The shareholders, ASTEC, APA, META, increased their input, added some capital and borrowed the rest, but they made it happen. Hip Hip Hurrah.

SO….. what do we do now?! We built condos, and shopping malls and restaurants, and bars in the space cleared up along the waterside, leading into town, and we clutter the urban layout with kiosks, and flea markets, street vendors and Dr. Coco coconut water stands? Yes? No?

No! We build a park, a promenade, exercise trails, biking lanes, soccer fields, skateboarding obstacles, we improve the quality of life for people in Oranjestad, we build a super Concert Arena so that the Flip Flop festival and its pesky cousins can stay away from the beaches and entertainment may unfold in a contained, controlled environment, no pissy toilets on the beach, no empty beer cans, no cigarette butts, just pristine, clean sand, and the mess created by the festivals may be relegated to the special arena build in the old harbor.

I can dream. It’s a free country, I can fantasize, it doesn’t cost you anything!

A WORKSHOP ON HAPPINESS.  Yesterday we counted 27 unexpected cars parked along the sides of the road on Malmok. Parked is a compliment. They were sort of abandoned, in front of house #514. So I investigated on behalf of the neighborhood:  The most unusual number of cars, belonged to Aruba Tourism Authority employees on a retreat with a French self styled happiness guru, Arnaud Collery who through technology, workshops, events and films, promotes happiness in the workplace. The guru already spoke here at the TedX conference and recommended happiness, as a way of life for One Happy Island, so ATA brought him back for a retreat with its employees. They had a great time and at the end of the day enjoyed an informal happy hour on the beach, toes in the sand.  I imagine that anyone still miserable at ATA, after the workshop, will be transferred immediately to infrastructure. 🙂

BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE. The Hard Rock Café was closed for a number of days. I asked around, and heard they are current on their rent and seem to be doing ok lately. Then two sources confirmed that Elmar, our electric company pulled the plug for missed payments. I guess it is difficult these days to wire money from Caracas, the company’s headquarters, to Aruba. This is not a joke, I think it is serious, our electric company shut them down, for outstanding invoices. That’s quite sucky when it happens in the middle of the high season.

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March 01, 2016
Rona Coster