Santos to gain new passenger terminal up to 2010
Valor Econômico - 02/29/2008
A new passenger terminal, a marina, and some leisure areas for tourists are among the equipment that will be installed in an area of 43 thousand square meters in a noble area of the São Paulo port of Santos. An agreement was entered into yesterday between the Companhia Docas do Estado de São Paulo (Codesp) and the local government of the municipality. The agreement rules out, at once, the use of the area for operational purposes, something that was very much desired by the groups that operate the container terminals, due to its being so close to the Anchieta-Imigrantes System. The Minister of Ports, Pedro Brito, guaranteed that the new purpose, which will have exclusive participation of the private sector, will also generate revenues for Codesp. He compared this initiative to that existing in the port of Barcelona (Spain), in which the Catalan port authority receives most of its revenues from a tourist-port complex. "There is demand, in Santos, for a new passenger terminal. In one single day in this summer there was a flow of nearly 30 thousand people for cruise ships that have boarded here", said Brito. The Minister expects the new project should be implemented by 2010. In 90 days, according to Mayor of Santos João Paulo Tavares Papa (PMDB), the initial outlines of the project will be concluded. Pursuant with the legislation in force, the area shall continue belonging to the Federal Government, which will have to carry out a public tender for its exploration, notwithstanding the area's not being used exclusively for operational purposes.