His announcement followed recommendations from an inter-ministerial committee that began studying the possible sale of the container terminal last summer. However, local speculation suggests that because of imminent elections, politicians have dropped the privatisation proposal given strong opposition from port trade unions, not to mention that from the local MPs. Earlier, the Ministry of Finance directed that the terminal be sold off by the end of the second quarter of this year. The container terminal generates annual revenue of $142m and contributes 65% of that generated by the port in total.