Christophe Harbour was pleased to welcome officials from Customs, Immigration and Maritime Affairs for a tour of the Customs House and construction progress onsite at The Marina at Christophe Harbour. The facility will house offices of Customs and Immigration and, as a major port of entry for yachts, will significantly help facilitate efficient processing and clearance of visiting yachts and their passengers.

Director of Yachting Aeneas Hollins provided the officials with a marina overview, which was followed by a tour of the Customs Hous facilities with Newell Shanklin, Director of Construction.

Following the tour, Comptroller of Customs Georid Belle said, “The facilities are excellent. They are modern. They are up to ‘specs’ in terms of what is to be done here. I don’t foresee any problems. I believe it will be a great customer experience. We will be adding to that by providing high quality Customs services.”

And Immigration Officer Marvin Thompson commented, “I believe the design easily facilitates the work that the Immigration Office will do here, and I am sure the work processes will be done seamlessly.”

The Customs House, designed by Christophe Harbour's Director of Architecture John Denton Haley, takes inspiration from historic wharfside buildlings around the world as well as from historic Basseterre, particularly the old Treasury building that was constructed in 1894.

In addition to Customs and Immigration offices, the Customs House will include a crew lounge for visting yachts, the marina office, a fitness center, and a real estates sales gallery.

Flanking the Customs House are seven retail shops that opened last year.