An amendment to the law which will provide relief on customs duty for materials for a new marina in St George’s has been passed in the House of Assembly.

The Customs Tariff Amendment Act 1970 will allow temporary relief for materials and goods needed for the structure and facilities of the St George’s Marina Development Project.

Speaking in the House on Friday, Minister of Finance Bob Richards said: “The desire for a marina in St George’s relates principally to the retention of its Unesco World Heritage status and it is part of developing a more sustained financial model for the Corporation of St George. The marina is expected to reduce the impact from storm surge and provide a general revitalisation of economic activity in the Olde Towne. An auxiliary benefit is expected to be that the St George’s marina and the St George’s Resort Development are likely to complement one other.

“This is part of an ongoing effort to assist the Corporation of St George with schemes that help it to achieve revenues commensurate with its needs. The Government seeks to further assist them to enhance its revenue-raising capacity through appropriate duty relief and other measures not forming part of this bill. The ultimate aim is to reduce Corporation of St George’s need for any future government funding.”

Shadow Minister of Finance David Burt welcomed the development of a marina but pushed Mr Richards to release more details about the project. “What are the plans for the St George’s marina? How advanced are the plans? This is not something that we have heard much about. Shed some light on what we are giving approval for.”

Junior Minister for Tourism Kenneth Bascome retorted: “This is something that has been talked about for the past six or seven years. This is something that has been in the pipeline for a number of years. I am hopeful that all the members will come on board and support this.”

Municipalities minister Grant Gibbons went a little further to explain that the project will begin soon. He said: “There are going to be a couple of phases to this. The America’s Cup in 2017 has been a catalyst for this — it has provided some additional wind beneath the wings — at this point we are looking at almost a record number of super yachts coming in 2017, probably over 90 of them at this point and we don’t have the capacity to be able to handle that number. In addition we are also getting the sense we could have well over 300 other yachts coming in as well so I think the timing couldn’t be better. The Corporation itself will benefit from revenue down the road. It will reinforce and underscore the maritime portion of St George which has been historically part of its life blood.”

Mr Richards added: “One of the things they [the developers] are waiting for is this piece of legislation to pass so they can import the materials duty free.”