The Transport and Harbours Department Incorporated was incorporated in Guyana on October 28, 1998. It is one of two wholly owned subsidiaries of the Canawaima Management Company J.V which was incorporated in Suriname. The other subsidiary is the Scheepvaart Maatschappij Suriname NV (SMSNV).
Canawaima Management Company is itself a wholly owned subsidiary of Canawaima Ferry Services Inc. which was incorporated in Guyana.
Transport and Harbours Department Inc was incorporated to handle the ferry service and terminal facilities on the Guyana side while SMS NV did likewise on the Suriname side.
The operations commenced on November 6, 1998 but, despite the initial hurdles and difficulties, the service continues to grow and advance over the years.
The Canawaima Management Company J.V of which Transport and Harbours Department is a part is managed by three directors each from the Guyana and Suriname sides. According to the management agreement there was supposed to have been six (6) meetings each year, three (3) in Guyana and three (3) in Suriname. Meetings were being held regularly but in recent times these have not been the case.
The last meeting of the Canawaima Management Company lV was held in Paramaribo, Suriname on August 27, 2010 and since then no meeting has been held. Further, it was indicated since then that the Directors on the Suriname side were changed but we are yet to be informed officially of the changes and who the new Directors are.
The Canawaima Ferry Service Inc. was incorporated in Guyana on October 28, 1998 under the Companies Act No. 29 of 1991 of the Laws of Guyana. It is jointly owned by the Governments of Guyana and Suriname (each country owns 50 of the issued share capital).
It is the holding company for the Canawaima Management Company N.V, a wholly owned subsidiary which was incorporated in Suriname. The Canawaima Management Company N.V in turn wholly owns two (2) subsidiaries - Transport and Harbours Department Inc. which was incorporated in Guyana and Scheepvaart Maatschappij Suriname (SMS NV) which was incorporated in Suriname.
The Canawaima Ferry Service Inc., the holding company, was supposed to meet four (4) times yearly, two (2) in Guyana and two (2) in Suriname. Initially, that was being done but since November 25, 2004, that body has not met.
