IMA
New Facilities and the Future
The Government, private sector and citizens have all become more environmentally conscious. As a result, greater demands have been made on the IMA to provide information and inform policy on marine and environmental matters. To meet these demands, the Institute of Marine Affairs will build…
Regionalisation
Over the years, the IMA has taken up its Caribbean mandate by its involvement in a number of regional projects which have contributed to the sustainable development of the coastal and marine areas of the insular Caribbean. Many of these projects have been initiated by…
Forging links with the Commonwealth – 1990
In 1990, the Commonwealth Science Council facilitated collaboration between Commonwealth Caribbean scientists and the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) of Goa, India through the Caribbean Oceanographic Research Exploration (CORE) Project. Â Under the project, Commonwealth Caribbean marine scientists underwent a training period at the NIO laboratory…
Re-structuring – 1989
From 1989 to 1996, the Institute was headed by Mr. Lennox Ballah, who was among those persons who had pioneered the concept of the IMA as a regional marine research organization. During his tenure as Director, Mr. Ballah was instrumental in having the organization restructured…
Commencement of Operations – 1978
The IMA commenced operations in 1978.  The first programmes were the Coastal Zone Management Programme, the Data Collection and Dissemination Programme, the Education and Training Programme and the Legal Programme. The second Director of the IMA, Mr. Ronald Linsky (1980-1982), also a UNDP expert, added…
Direction – 1976
The conceptual and operational design was formulated by Dr. Cruz Matos who was the UNDP expert assigned to the project and the first Director of IMA (1976-1979). The Institute was designed as a multi-functional facility which would be the advisory headquarters to the Government of…
Conceptualization – 1974
An Inter-Ministerial Committee on the Law of the Sea, which was chaired by Mr. Lennox Ballah, recommended to Cabinet in 1974, the creation of a special organization to deal with the present and future needs of Trinidad and Tobago, as they pertain to marine affairs. …