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Last Updated: Feb 6, 2017 - 2:32:04 PM |
Mrs. Bernadette Christie, wife of Prime Minister the Rt. Hon. Perry G. Christie helps to lay the Cornerstone during the Corner Laying Ceremony for the LJM Academy on Maritime Cay, Thursday, August 15, 2013. Standing at the right of Mrs. Christie is the Academy’s Founder, Lowell J. Mortimer OBE. (BIS Photo/Peter Ramsay)
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NASSAU, The Bahamas -- Prime Minister the Rt. Hon. Perry G. Christie praised Lowell J. Mortimer OBE for following his vision and establishing the LJM Maritime Academy, which when completed is set to be one of the nation’s pillars in stimulating and sustaining growth in the Maritime Sector.
During the Cornerstone Laying Ceremony for the Academy on Maritime Cay, Thursday, August 15, 2013, the Prime Minister said Mr. Mortimer “has been able to through his own spirit, enable our country to share in a magnificent way the result of what you see now”.
Prime Minister Christie said, “This is not his first effort in education. Mr. Mortimer arranged for a $10 million grant to The College of The Bahamas, which will become the University of The Bahamas. His clause is pitched towards ensuring that The College of The Bahamas introduces a sustainable development course based on the grant that he has given.
“That is not an inconsequential grant; that is a very significant and defining grant to The College of The Bahamas, which I hope will become the University of The Bahamas by 2015.”
A corner laying ceremony was held for the LJM Academy on Maritime Cay, Thursday, August 15, 2013. Sitting in the front row from left: Prime Minister the Rt. Hon. Perry G. Christie; Mrs. Bernadette Christie; Founder of the LJM Academy, Lowell J. Mortimer OBE; Her Excellency Lady Foulkes and Governor General Sir Arthur Foulkes. (BIS Photo/Peter Ramsay)
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The LJM Academy was officially launched in November 2012 and when completed is supposed to be a state-of-the-art training facility which intends to lead the Bahamian Maritime Industry in offering excellent seafaring education that adheres to industry standards, thus ensuring employability globally.
Dr. Fritz H. A. Pinnock, Executive Director, Caribbean Maritime Institute in Jamaica, during the ceremony, explained that globally there is a shortage of merchant navy officers, maritime business professionals and marine scientists and technologists.
“Between the International Maritime Organisation and the Baltic and International Maritime Council, they have predicted that the shortage of officers will reach 27,000 by 2015.
“With The Bahamas among the top five ship registries in the world with over 1,600 ships, you have the potential to employ over 5,000 officers.”
Dr. Pinnock said in the Philippines in 2008, 15 per cent of the GDP came from remittances from seafarers, which amounts to over three billion dollars.
He noted that of the 1.2 million seafarers worldwide, the Philippines accounts for over 20 per cent. “The Bahamas can do better.”
Dr. Pinnock committed the Caribbean Maritime Institute’s support to the development and growth of the LJM Academy, and stands ready to sign the first Memorandum of Understanding to expand the Academy’s training offerings to include Logistics and Supply Chain management among others.
Mrs. Bernadette Christie, wife of the Prime Minister, helped to lay the Cornerstone.
Governor General Sir Arthur Foulkes and Lady Foulkes; Minister of Education the Hon. Jerome Fitzgerald; Minister of Transport and Aviation the Hon. Glenys Hanna-Martin and the Minister of State in the Ministry of Transport and Aviation the Hon. Hope Strachan also attended the ceremony.
© Copyright 2013 by thebahamasweekly.com
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