By Dennise Williams, Staff Reporter
Noel Hylton has one of the most powerful jobs in Jamaica as chairman and CEO of the Port Authority of Jamaica. - Dennise Williams Photo
Today we continue to profile the 2003 nominees for the prestigious Gleaner Honour Award. Noel Hylton is the nominee for business.
CHAIRMAN AND Chief Executive Officer of the Port Authority of Jamaica, Noel Hylton, is arguably one of the most powerful men in Jamaica, albeit in a very quiet fashion.
He does not make the news frequently; he is not embroiled in scandal or seen beating his chest over all he has accomplished.
Mr. Hylton, the cricketer, the accountant and shipping industry giant, has been leading the Port Authority, a statutory corporation established in 1972, on its drive for world-class excellence since 1975. And to understand the drive to world-class standards, one must begin with an understanding of the man behind the mission statement.
The story starts in rural Manchester.
"I was born in Cobblar in 1931. There I attended Mount Olivet School and then went to West Indies College in Kingston, not the one in Manchester. In 1953, I attended the Barrow, Elephant and Castle school in London, a technical college, where I studied accounting for three years."
After college, Mr. Hylton embarked on a great adventure in Africa. "In 1956, I accepted a job with the Nigerian Government in various capacities. I worked for the Eastern Eastern Region and the Federal Government in various capacities, including industrial relations and personnel management."
While in Nigeria, independence was thrust upon Mr. Hylton. "Well, being in Africa shaped me because it forced me to become independent, I worked hard and was an achiever in my early years. I had to rely on myself and become an independent thinker. Let's face it. The British were the ones running Nigeria at the time. I was an orphan child in the system so I had to prove myself."
But Mr. Hylton didn't just work. "I had a wonderful time in Nigeria." During the interview, Mr. Hylton showed Nigerian newspaper clippings of his stint as the Captain of the Club Cricket Team, and his accomplishments on the Nigerian National Cricket Team and the Eastern Nigerian Cricket Team.
ALL GOOD THINGS
MUST COME TO AN END
However, all good things must come to an end, and so Mr. Hylton left Nigeria and returned to Jamaica in the mid-1960s. After many job offers from British, United States and Jamaican companies, in 1966 Mr. Hylton decided to settle in Jamaica and with the shipping association.
"One of the positions that I had in Nigeria was dealing with industrial relations so the position of General Manager of the Shipping Association of Jamaica intrigued me." And so, Mr. Hylton's shipping career slowly began to progress.
"In the Shipping Association, my work was strictly with industrial relations and labour but at the same time I had to learn about the maritime industry."
And as Mr. Hylton goes on to explain, his love of all things shipping developed not from an interest in the sea, but in the organisational structure of the seafaring industry. "At the time I joined the Shipping Association, in 1966, the Port of Kingston was the biggest employer in Jamaica. The labour on the port dealt with all aspects of moving cargo and equipment on the port."
Mr. Hylton adds: "In order to learn how to manage labour on the port, you had to learn what they were doing and the requirements of the shipping line. Importantly, at that time men like Hugh Shearer, Michael Manley and Hopeton Caven were responsible for port labour on the ground. To cope with these gentlemen I had to put special effort to the job. You can imagine dealing with these gentlemen!"
In 1975, he was appointed Chairman and CEO of the Port Authority of Jamaica. "When I came to the Port Authority, there was a realisation that ships were getting bigger and bigger. And that mammoth ships would not be able to call at every port. Jamaica also realised that it could take advantage of its geographic location.
"We felt that to develop Jamaica as a hub port would be an ideal thing to do. As far as I can remember, the Government of the day offered the private sector to develop such as facility, but they declined."
And so, Mr. Hylton rolled up his sleeves and got to work. "The Port Authority under the chair of Alfred Rattray started to proceed with a small development. I took over at that point and had the vision that ships would continue to get bigger and bigger and bigger.
"For example, in those olden days, you would have ships coming into Kingston with about 50 to 60 containers. Today, we have ships with 2,500 containers on board. They can dock here, because I had been creating these facilities."
AMBITIONS CONTINUE TO GROW
Mr. Hylton's ambitions continue to grow. "We have embarked on a goal of creating world class facilities strictly financed by loans from international sources and profits we earn that are plowed back." The Port Authority earns money from services provided from its subsidiaries. These include the Kingston Free Zone, the Montego Bay Free Zone, Montego Cruise Ship Terminal, Ocho Rios Cruise Ship Terminal, Shipping Agents, the Port Antonio Marina and the Port Computer Service. The Kingston terminal annual income is J$5 billion, but as explained by Mr. Hylton, "the Port Authority income is more than that." Mr. Hylton proudly states, "while we are owned by the Government of Jamaica, we get no government grants, no government loans, no government subsidies. The Port Authority is self sufficient."
Mr. Hylton outlined some of the projects the Port Authority is currently undertaking:
"The bigger the ship, the deeper the depth of water required. We continue dredging and widening the channel, as that is the road in the sea. We have been putting in state of the art equipment, which evolves with the size of the ships. We started off with cranes (which lift containers off of the ships) that could stretch 14 containers across. Now, the cranes we use have a reach of 22 containers. The Port Authority also uses GPS satellite system to locate the containers on the Port because on any given day, we have 7,000 containers on the port and capacity for 6,000 cold storage containers.
"Right now, ships that carry 4,000 to 5,000 containers that cannot go through the Panama Canal can come to Jamaica. Our challenge is to continue to provide efficient service at the lowest cost to compete with world ports."
And now Mr. Hylton is looking to the future.
"My vision is, that in the next 20 years, there will be five hub transshipment ports around the world. Because, I believe, the ships will be so large that it will only be economical for the shipping lines to call on the five hubs large enough to accommodate them. And Jamaica should be one of those five ports. That's what we are working towards." large enough to accommodate them. And Jamaica should be one of those five ports. That's what we are working towards."
