The waterfront that serves port Georgetown is a narrow swathe of space sandwiched between the Demerara River and the cluster of buildings that house much of the city's commercial centre. Chris Fernandes, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of John Fernandes Ltd believes that the limited lodgings of the capital's port facilities is a function of the type of planning that informed the creation of the country's capital, in the first place. The nature of that planning has made space the "life blood" of the industry.

It is the premium on space that makes John Fernandes' recent $135m investment in a new warehousing facility significant. Fernandes perceives its relevance beyond the expansion of his company's own warehouse facilities. It holds, he says, a broader significance for the modernization and expansion of the port facilities of the country as a whole.

The state of a country's economy, Fernandes says, can, in large measure, be determined based on the business of its seaports. Compared even with other Caribbean territories Guy-ana's cargo volume has grown slowly and the growth of cargo volume in Guyana has been - more or less - "modest" over the past forty years. Still, warehouse space is at a premium and could become a real issue in the context of the country's development "down the road."

Even before its new warehouse facility set fresh standards for the local shipping industry John Fernandes had held its own in a market shared with a mere handful of competitors. Over time the company had made prudent moves to expand its space to take account of its growing share of cargo volume acquiring, first, the buildings that formerly housed the operations of the Guyana Stores Agencies Division and, two years ago, moving from the port area altogether to create a huge container terminal on Mandela Avenue.

For the ten months of 2006 John Fernandes Ltd handled 1,326 outgoing 20 ft containers and 1,299 incoming ones. During the same period last year the company handled 1,304 outgoing containers and 1,148 incoming ones. While Fernandes concedes that these numbers are modest compared with other port facilities in the region they nonetheless have posed challenges that have limited the company's operational efficiency and placed restraints on its ability to improve its customer service. For a start, up until a month ago, loading and offloading operations shared the same space. Vehicles and facilities removing cargo from ships berthed in port and those concerned with loading ships shared the same space in a manner that was unwieldy and required the strict implementation of the waterfront protocols to ensure a measure of order and safety. Customers too shared the same space - persons seeking to expedite the processing of goods for export and those concerned with receiving cargo shipped from overseas.

It is here that the new warehouse has made its greatest impact.

The facility is dedicated to the handling of imports and the row upon row of containers stacked neatly in the recently created storage space attests to an initiative by John Fernandes Ltd. to create a new, more customer-friendly waterfront culture.

Port activities in Guyana have traditionally been associated with spartan customer facilities, long waits in conditions of discomfort and administrative snafus that can make the processing and release of goods an ordeal. Mark Archer, the company's Warehouse Manager says that the new warehouse facility is about to change all that. It is a self-contained facility with more than 2,300 square feet of space for the processing of cargo and the creation of a new drive through facility that ensures that cargo arriving in the country leaves the wharf without undue obstruction. Archer says that given the number of container-laden trucks that must find their way off the docks and to their separate destinations each day this is no mean achievement.

Inside the new warehouse facility John Fernandes Ltd. has brought about a stunning transformation to the ambience of the waterfront culture. The company's own staff Customs Authority detail assigned to the wharf are housed in modern air-conditioned offices. A customer waiting area is furnished with rows of comfortable benches, television facilities a new canteen and a stern-looking facilitator. Wait-ing for service at wharves can be sometimes a time-consuming exercise and Archer told Stabroek Business that "the whole idea is to provide customers with more comfort."

From his own modest but comfortable office strategically positioned to provide an unimpeded view of the overall operations of the warehouse Archer talks about the creation of the new facility and its implications for the operational efficiency of the company. He recalls that it took two years to establish the facility and that the costly and painstaking land reclamation and revetment work involved depended for its execution on the ebb and flow of the tide. It is the impact of the new facility on the company's operations that concerns Archer most. He points out that with the new warehouse in place the company can now handle volumes of agricultural fertilizer, a service that has a direct bearing on the growth of the country's agricultural sector.