business & economy

A chat with New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin
an interview by Eric Jackson

C. Ray Nagin, the mayor of New Orleans, was in Panama recently, at the head of a Louisiana delegation that was looking at our canal, ports and maritime industry with a view toward the development of New Orleans area ports. The Panama News had the opportunity for a brief conversation with the mayor who, after the nightmare experiences of Hurricane Katrina and all the subsequent allegations and finger-pointing, was re-elected by a city electorate that decided little of the blame that attached for the disaster properly belonged on his doorstep.

The Panama News: New Orleans is home to one of the world's great seaports and it would stand to reason that a disaster that ruined the homes of many of the people who worked there and forced them to flee, and damaged the land transport systems and trucks that serve the port would seriously affect port operations. But did the port itself suffer much physical damage from Hurricane Katrina?

Mayor Nagin: The port facility was near the river, and the river levees did not breach. Some ships were sunk in the channel, but removing them was one of the federal government's top priorities. The port is almost back to pre-hurricane capacity.

TPN: On top of Katrina, we now have an economic downturn in the United States. How's that affecting the cargo volume in the port?

Nagin: New Orleans is counter-cyclical to the rest of the nation, for a number of reasons. Louisiana is an oil producing state, and oil and gas prices are high at the moment. With all the construction for our post-Katrina recovery, unemployment is down to about 3.3 percent. Our economy is very strong, and that includes the port.

TPN: Are you thinking in terms of expanding the port into adjacent areas of the city that were damaged by the hurricane?

Nagin: We have a shallow water port in New Orleans, and although we're looking to modernize that and the infrastructures that serve it, the big expansion plans are in neighboring parishes at the mouth of the river that were totally devastated by Katrina, much worse than the city of New Orleans. The rebuilding plans for the region include a deep water port in Plaquemines parish, which represents a big expansion for Louisiana's maritime industry.

TPN: So how do you expect this trip to help your work in New Orleans?

Nagin: We've been traveling around the world to significant port cities. We went to Shanghai. We went to Durban, South Africa, with which New Orleans has a sister city relationship. We came here to see the canal and port expansions. The Panama Canal expansion will allow New Orleans and the Gulf to become a bigger player in the canal's business.

TPN: Panama is taking a financial risk to expand the canal to accommodate post-Panamax ships. Are you investing in all the things you will need to upgrade in order to handle post-Panamax ships?

Nagin: Absolutely. The deep water port at Plaquemines parish is designed for that, and throughout the region we will need to improve the rail and road connections and other infrastructures that will be necessary to serve such an expansion.

TPN: Here in Panama we have a different system and the city governments have little to do with any port project. But I imagine that in New Orleans you have several levels of government --- local, state and federal, and maybe some special authorities --- each with a role to play. What is the "division of labor" among different parts of government with respect to the repair and improvement of the Port of New Orleans?

Nagin: It's primarily a state authority, with local authorities, municipalities, parishes and of course the federal government all playing their roles. We're trying to consolidate the local authorities into one.

TPN: How much is going to be spent on upgrading the ports? How many jobs do you expect the project to create?

Nagin: For the Port of New Orleans we expect to spend at least $1 billion, and create at least 1,000 jobs.

TPN: Were you aware before your visit of the history of cultural ties between New Orleans and Panama? Has anything you have encountered here reminded you of the Crescent City?

Nagin: I went over to the old part of Panama City for dinner and I was struck by some of the similarities with the French Quarter and Bourbon Street. They were amazing to me.

TPN: Well, the first colonial city, Panama Viejo, was destroyed during Henry Morgan's raid in 1671. The second colonial city, the Casco Viejo, was burned down by a series of fires in the 18th century, after which a lot of the replacement buildings included wrought iron features from New Orleans....

Nagin: That historic part of your city needs some tender loving care, and I did see some signs of that beginning in the neighborhood.

TPN: In more recent times there have been the Panamanians who have studied at Tulane and the jazz connections between Panama and New Orleans....

Nagin: I'm a Tulane graduate, and when I studied there I met Panamanians. The school attracts people from all over Central America. We have our strong historic shipping ties, but our city's relationships with this region go much deeper than that. We've sent several jazz missions to Panama over the years, too.