Officials with the proposed Melford International Terminal say their development could be a game-changer for the Quad Counties, and the province and the eastern part of the country as well.
Richie Mann, the vice-president of marketing and government affairs for Melford, says the cost is expected to be in the range of $350-$375 million (USD).
He says they’re making significant progress, but everything takes more time than they’d like with this type of work.
Mann tells The Hawk there’s a lot of opportunity for growth with the project.
“The logistics part that will accompany this terminal is where the huge opportunities lie- the ability to attract different types of industries, consolidation centres, value ad centres, hubs for export.”
Mann says they issued a request for qualification (RFQ) to about 10 or 11 design firms in December.
He says they’ll be working with firms to move forward.
“With this particular contract, there’s a period of time for these firms to come back to us with clarification with any questions they have, then they’ll have an opportunity to make a submission,” he says. “We’ll look at submissions, we’ll do interviews, we’ll meet with them.”
Mann says they hope final design work will be done later in 2018, with shovels in the ground shortly after.