Trinidad & Tobago Converts Unused Air Force Base to a Potential Driver for Nation’s Economy
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad – A place that once played an important role in the winning of the second World War will now play a critical role in winning new investments through the country’s first Science and Technology Research Park – Tamana InTech Park. The Republic of Trinidad & Tobago has repurposed the Wallerfield Air Force Base (Wallerfield AFB), a former United States World War II Air Force base located in northeastern Trinidad, to satisfy the country’s goal of transforming its booming energy-based economy to a knowledge-based one.
Wallerfield AFB was activated in September of 1941 to establish a flying facility within the United States Army Fort Read post, to protect the oilfields and refineries, and to stand guard over the merchant ships that gathered in the Gulf of Paria. The air force base was named after United States Army Air Force Major Alfred J. Waller, a distinguished World War I combat pilot.
The air force base experienced many shifts in the use of the land after World War II and closed May of1949 due to budgetary cutbacks. Five decades later, Wallerfield AFB has been transformed into Tamana InTech Park.
Tamana InTech Park stands out for its cutting-edge technology tailor-made for cross-linked business opportunities and resource clustering. Situated among moriche palms on a natural reserve, supported by the on-site campus of University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT), and outfitted with state-of-the-art telecom and security systems, the Park is both technologically advanced and relevant to its natural environment. The Park’s Tier III data centre is one of only a few in the region and offers a complete suite of data centre services for Tamana’s tenants.
“Tamana InTech Park is an example of the country’s ICT readiness,” said Angela Hordatt, Vice President of Business Development at Evolving Technologies and Enterprise Development Company Ltd. [eTecK], one of the implementing agencies under the Ministry of Trade & Industry in charge of developing Tamana InTech Park. “The park is well positioned to become a home for global companies and site selectors, with plenty of room to meet a company’s existing and future needs.”
