Work at proposed Jasper port would relieve some workers

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, SOUTH CAROLINA - Steve Wright, Kenneth Kirkland, and Mikel Mulligan ride the bus between three and five hours each day from Estill, Walterboro and Yemassee to construction and maintenance jobs on Hilton Head Island. <br> <br> But each man says he would consider taking a job at a proposed privately run port in Jasper County just to end the long hours currently spent traveling to work. <br> <br> Stevedoring Services of America wants to build a steamship terminal on the Savannah River near Interstate 95 across from Savannah, Ga., near Georgia port operations. With legal challenges and environmental hurdles, the project could be as much as five years away, said Gary Morelli, vice president in charge of SSA-Cooper&#39;s Savannah port operations. <br> <br> Wright, 26, spends three hours a day riding a rural transit bus from Estill to Hilton Head Island, where he does cement and masonry work. Getting off that bus and into and out of work faster ``would be a whole lot better,&#39;&#39; Wright said Tuesday as he spent more than an hour waiting for a ride home. ``By the time you get home, you&#39;re tired.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Mulligan, 46, says he spends his time on the 90-minute rides from Yemassee reading the newspaper or the Bible. The commute is tough, especially during the winters. ``You leave at night and you come home at night,&#39;&#39; he said. <br> <br> Kirkland, 40, gets on the bus just before 5 a.m. in Walterboro. If traffic is light, he gets off the bus at 7:20 a.m. outside a McDonald&#39;s restaurant a few blocks from Sea Pines plantation. The trip back takes just as long. <br> <br> ``You&#39;ve got to feed the family,&#39;&#39; Kirkland said. ``If I could drive 20 to 25 miles to work, I&#39;d do it.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Apart from saving time, the port construction and stevedoring jobs are expected to pay more than many blue-collar Hilton Head jobs. Kirkland said that means more money for everyone. ``It&#39;s going to help the man selling gas, and it&#39;s going to help the man selling hot dogs,&#39;&#39; he said. <br> <br> State Sen. Clementa Pinckney, D-Ridgeland, has been the steamship terminal&#39;s biggest supporter in the Senate. <br> <br> He and other members of the Legislative Black Caucus see the port as a step along the path of loosening ``the poverty belt&#39;&#39; that follows I-95 through rural South Carolina. ``Once we can develop that interstate, the whole state will improve,&#39;&#39; Pinckney said. <br> <br> Building the steamship terminal also will create several hundred jobs during the two-year construction effort, Morelli said. The facility will employ at least 200 workers when operating, he said.