Burin Peninsula chamber optimistic aquaculture service hub will create growth

MARYSTOWN, N.L. — MARYSTOWN, N.L — The sale of the ship yard in Marystown Sept. 26 was hailed by president of the Burin Peninsula Chamber of Commerce as a momentous occasion for the Burin Peninsula.
John Baker called it a "long time coming, but certainly worth waiting for in the long run.
“It should spell some wonderful employment opportunities for the Burin Peninsula for a lot of trades, and from the perspective of the folks that work at the shipyard and worked there in the past.”
In past months the chamber has been vocal on its position a deal needed to be reached to help get people from Marystown and surrounding communities back to work. In June they circulated an e-mail throwing their support behind the sale of the facility.
“We thought we would try and be a catalyst to get the parties involved in this whole sale agreement, to get them in place and see if there was anything the chamber could do to support that process, and get it going,” explained Baker.
He added the chamber hopes development of the yard into a hub for aquaculture will mean growing opportunities to those on the peninsula involved in the retail, service and supply industries.
“We hope that it will put some sort of sustainability in the community,” said Baker. "We’ve got an absolutely wonderful place that has golden opportunities for development and industry — a great place for folks to come and settle down.
"Hopefully we’ll be able to provide some decent jobs with this piece of business when it all gets going.”