By Erica James-King, Senior Staff ReporterWESTERN BUREAU: Several changes are to be implemented at the ports in Montego Bay by next week in response to calls by port users for improvement to its infrastructure.
According to Tony Bowen, manager of the complex, two forklifts are to be hired to complement the existing fleet at the cargo-handling section which currently has only two functioning forklifts.
The management, he said, believed that the new forklifts should make the facility better able to handle increased cargo during the Christmas season.
The hireage of the two additional forklifts will incur a combined cost of between $150,000 and $200,000 for a two-month period.
"Two forklifts that we are hiring should be in place by the end of November. They will be part of the fleet, until we purchase new forklifts. We anticipate that by some time in January, the new forklifts should be in place," said Mr. Bowen.
IMPROVEMENTS
Turning to other improvement for the cargo port in Montego Bay for the Yuletide season, Mr. Bowen said before the end of this week, there is to be a 20 per cent to 25 per cent increase in the fleet of port handlers, with the aim of facilitating speedier stripping of containers, warehousing and distribution of cargo.
In addition, the Customs Department will be increasing its staff complement for inspection of cargo for the Christmas period. "With the changes expected in terms of customs and port handlers, in addition to the fact that the warehouse does not close for business during lunchtime as was the case last year, the Montego Bay Port is better prepared than last year for the holiday season," he said.
NEED FOR PAVING
Meanwhile, Mr. Bowen could not say when another demand by customs brokers, shipping agents and freight handlers would be addressed-the need for paving the yard of the terminal and upgrading the apron.
Port users had complained to The Gleaner that despite repeated promises from the Port Authority and the Ministry of Transport to rectify the situation, the matter remains unsettled.
"The outside of the yard where the containers are stored need to be paved because whenever it is dry, like now, it's a dust bowl down there...it affects the people who use the wharf; it also affects the cargo in the warehouse," laments Leroy Levy, a broker who has been operating out of Montego Bay for over 30 years.
"The eves at the loading bay also do not go out far enough and sometimes cargo gets wet, when they are being stripped." Mr. Levy also laments that there are other inadequacies making the loading bay unfavourable for the stripping of cargo. Hendricks Porter, President of the Customs Brokers Association of Jamaica (CBAJ) shares similar sentiments.
LACK OF STORAGE SPACE
Citing another problem dogging port users, Messers Levy and Porter also bemoaned the lack of storage space in the warehouse:
"Many persons who leave from as far as Manchester, charter cars and come for barrels that they know have arrived for them but they have to make several trips to the port at horrendous expenses, before they can actually obtain the barrels. These items are generally still locked away in the containers awaiting storage space in the warehouse before they can be processed and inspected."
The importers are questioning why it is taking the government so long to address problems at the Montego Bay Port, even though that facility is earning its keep.
Last year there was an 11.4 per cent hike in cargo going through the Montego Bay Port, jumping from 676,781 metric tones of cargo in comparison to 608,962 metric tonnes in the year 2000 .
The complaints from the customs brokers and other importers come on the heels of assurances given to the Media and to port users during the first half of this year, by Noel Hylton, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Port Authority of Jamaica. Mr. Hylton told a meeting of the port community on June 27 this year, that $150 million would be spent to improve conditions at the port.
At the time Mr. Hylton said plans were in the pipeline for spending $70 million for the paving of the terminal and upgrading the apron. Among the other improvements promised by the Port Authority for the second city's port were : additional forklifts for the warehouse operations, measures to have abandoned cargo in the warehouse removed with the aim of improving its storage capacity, redesigning the present Cruiseship terminal and dredging the harbour. To date only the latter proposal has become a reality.
Mr. Hylton has not been available for comment.
