Chairman of the Gleaner Company, Oliver Clarke (left), presents the Gleaner Honour Award for 'Man of the Year' to Noel Hylton. - RICARDO MAKYN/Staff Photographer

THE LOCAL port comm-unity has commended the Honourable Noel Hylton, president and chief executive officer of the Port Authority of Jamaica on being recognised by the Gleaner Company as 'Man of the Year' for 2003 and the recipient of the Gleaner's Honour Award for business for his "superb work in transforming the nation's ports and for his outstanding leadership qualities".

Mr. Hylton, an accountant by profession, was acknowledged for his considerable achievements in the public and private sectors for more than 40 years. He joined the public sector in 1975 as chairman and chief executive officer of The Port Authority of Jamaica (PAJ) and has since been influential in the development of the modern container terminal at the Port of Kingston, as well as the development of Jamaica's first export free zone. In addition to his local service, Mr. Hylton has worked in Nigeria and assisted the shipping industry in the Fiji islands.

The Gleaner Company recognised Mr. Hylton's achievements at its 24th annual Gleaner Honour Awards luncheon last Thursday at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in New Kingston.

CONTRIBUTION

"This is well deserving and we are proud that Mr. Hylton has received this honour," says the president of the Shipping Association of Jamaica (SAJ), Harry Maragh. "Mr. Hylton has made significant contributions to the shipping industry and has been instrumental in the development of the island's port facilities over the years. Jamaica is blessed for having stalwarts like Noel. We indeed need more professionals like him," comments Mr. Maragh.

In his commendations, Alister Cooke, a former general manager of the SAJ who has worked with Mr. Hylton since 1966, said he was pleased that Mr. Hylton has once again been acknowledged for his work.

Reminiscing, Mr. Cooke said in the 1960s the working conditions for port workers were unsatisfactory and Mr. Hylton changed this by introducing new systems. He recalls Mr. Hylton's efforts toward introducing a new style of labour negotiations to preserve industrial harmony and reorganising the Charter of the SAJ to improve working condition and operations generally. Mr. Cooke described the PAJ CEO as a "visionary and a strategic manager with excellent negotiating skills" who led many changes, such as the establishment of a labour recruiting centre near to the port.

Pointing out that Mr. Hylton was regarded as "affable and soft-spoken", Mr. Cooke explained that he always motivated and assisted his staff toward personal and professional development. He was not a chauvinistic manager, but had the art of 'cutting to the chase' of a matter.

In his comments, Alvin Henry, also a former general manager of the SAJ, congratulated Mr. Hylton and wished him continued success. "Mr. Hylton must be commended not only for his outstanding leadership, but more importantly for his excellent planning, marketing and co-ordination, and implementation of the major port developments over two decades," observes Mr. Henry.

TRANSSHIPMENT PORTS

He pointed to the PAJ's contribution in making the Port of Kingston "one of the foremost transshipment ports in the Region - Kingston ranks 63rd in the world and is progressing steadily to be one of the leading ports in this Hemisphere".

Mr. Henry recalls a statement made by Mr. Hylton 25 years ago, that his "developmental strategy was to maximise capacity usage by filling the port with ships and containers, expand it, fill it again, expand again and keep repeating the process". This vision Mr. Hylton has fulfilled.

"I wish to congratulate him on the award, which is most deserving and wish him continued success on the Port of Kingston and other maritime developments he undertakes," says Mr. Henry.

Charles Johnston, executive chairman of Jamaica Freight & Shipping Limited, adds: "Mr. Hylton is fully deserving of the Gleaner award. His contribution to the development of shipping in Jamaica and the Kingston transshipment port in particular is immense. As a member of the shipping fraternity, he has made all of us proud."

"The people of Jamaica and especially the shipping community owe Mr. Hylton a tremendous debt of gratitude for giving us a port of which we can all be justly proud," comments the managing director of Kingston Wharves Limited, Grantley Stephenson.

"Through Mr. Hylton's vision, courage and actions the Port of Kingston now ranks among the top 100 ports in the world ­ no small achievement, which can largely be attributed to Mr. Hylton's leadership. Kingston now competes on level terms with the very best in the world," Mr. Stephenson notes.

"Many ports in this region have been trying for years to emulate the impressive achievements of the Port of Kingston but without success. Few have all the right ingredients to build a successful transshipment hub, and none have another Noel Hylton," he points out.

Published Tuesday, January 13, 2004