Senator A.G. Crowe, right, seen with PABI Chairman Reid McLellan, informed membership of a deep water port proposed to be built in Southwest Pass.            Photo by Terri Sercovich

During the February 29 PABI meeting, Senator A.G. Crowe of District 1 announced that funding has been secured for the construction of an international gulf transfer terminal— a project he says could create nearly 40,000 jobs for the state of Louisiana. 

According to Crowe, the terminal, dubbed LIGTT (Louisiana International Gulf Transfer Terminal), will be funded through private international investors seeking an EB-5 immigration visa.

“The program hasn’t gotten the right publicity,” explained Crowe. “International investors must put up $500,000 for a project that creates at least 10 jobs for U.S. citizens and the investment has to be tracked by immigration.”

Senator Crowe explained to PABI members that he and his team are working with New York City-based EB-5 coordinating company ABK Venture Group, to find qualified investors interested in the plan.

“The company already had 500 applicants for the project,” said Crowe.

The site of the prospective terminal is located just east of the mouth of the Southwest Pass in Plaquemines Parish and is being constructed with the intent to make the state more competitive in the global shipping marketplace after the widening of the Panama Canal is completed in 2014. 

A document provided to PABI members during the luncheon states that the project will be the nation’s first transfer terminal for container cargo strategically designed to serve container vessels too large to enter the Mississippi River, thereby preserving market share for the Port of New Orleans.

The next PABI luncheon will be held March 15 at noon at the Bayou Barriere Golf Club. Parish President Billy Nungesser will be giving his annual State of the Parish address.