Westminster Group awarded screening contract for port in Liberia

Managed services and technology-based security company Westminster Group has been awarded a long-term contract to exclusively provide port screening services at Monrovia Freeport in Liberia.

The AIM-traded firm said that following Liberia's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO), and as part of a broader in-country policy of boosting trade and making the export and import of goods easier, the country’s government undertook a competitive tender process to build capacity under a long-term build-operate-transfer (BOT) arrangement, by investing in and upgrading various services at the port.

It said that, following a “lengthy” evaluation process, a contract was awarded to a consortium led by Emirati company Medtech Scientific, which in turn entered into a contract with Westminster to provide port screening services for an initial period of 10 years from 1 July.

The initial period could be extended by mutual agreement.

Westminster said the contract was expected to generate around $1.1m in revenues in the first year of operation.

Under the agreement, Westminster would provide the screening systems, warehousing and infrastructure to undertake screening and intrusive search of selected import containers, maintain and operate the systems and provide “comprehensive” training services to customs and other staff through the contract’s term.

The entire deployment phase of the project was expected to be complete within 18 months.

Westminster said it would have a presence in-country from 1 July, organising set-up and logistics, and would begin manual inspections and screening services in September.

Initial deployment expenses incurred under the contract would be satisfied from existing resources, but with a pipeline of multiple other potential contracts, the firm said it was monitoring funding requirements and options to ensure it had adequate financing in place to deal with the anticipated expansion of services.

“Following our announcement yesterday of a 20-year multi-million-dollar managed services contract for airport security, I am delighted to be able to announce yet another long-term port security managed services contract, particularly in West Africa where we already have a strong presence, and I am equally pleased this new contract opens up another new country for our operations,” said chief executive officer Peter Fowler.

“I know the Liberian authorities are very keen on capacity building, education and skills enhancement and I believe the services we offer, not just our technical expertise but our training and support services together with our community support programmes via the Westminster Group Foundation, will greatly benefit the country.

“A key goal we had set for the Company in 2021 was to secure at least one more large-scale managed services contract and so to have now secured two such contracts in two days is most encouraging.”

At 1610 BST, shares in Westminster Group were up 1.38% at 5.86p.