RE: Djalminha29 Aug 2019 01:33
Importers have registered their anger at Meridian Port Services (MPS) for continuous system defects, which, they said, are having a toll on their revenues.
The system defects have occasioned delays in cargo delivery by MPS to the importers, whose drivers end up spending hours unending at Terminal Three, and vehicular congestion at the premises.
What infuriates the importers more is that the MPS are keeping reefers, most of which are unplugged, thereby, causing the importers to spend more to fuel generators to preserve perishable meat in the containers.
Importers, who are unable to raise enough money to buy fuel to run their standby generators to preserve wholesome meat in the reefers, destroy the imported perishable food items before reaching the market.
In order to understand the complaints of the importers, The Chronicle sneaked into Terminal Three last Tuesday and Wednesday nights at about 9:00pm, and, indeed, over a 100 trucks, most of them carrying cargo, had parked in the exit lane, waiting for the automated boom door to open for them to leave.
It took the automated boom door several minutes to get activated to open for one truck to slowly move out of the port.
Several other trucks, on those same nights, had parked inside the terminal, waiting for an alert from MPS to move to the container yard to carry their cargoes. Some of the drivers told The Chronicle that they had spent about seven to eight hours waiting for the alert, after the importers had paid all value charges and handed them (drivers) the clearance documents from the MPS to report at the port for the cargo.
At the reefer yard, The Chronicle noticed that several reefers were unplugged, perhaps, they were empty.
Welcoming the genuine concerns of the importers, Emmanuel Ohene Addo, Operations Manager of MPS, told The Chronicle in an interview that the high vehicular concentration at the port, as observed by the paper, was mostly after midday, when most importers preferred to get their containers discharged.
“As you can see, the yard is virtually empty and the exit is free. Most of the importers, who have been sent their alerts to come in to carry their cargoes, would delay and send their trucks after midday when you see volumes of truck calling, and that results in the congestion you observed.
“And so the congestion cannot wholly be blamed on us,” he explained.
The MPS operates 24/7, however, it has only one scanning machine, which the importers said also delays service delivery.
This, Mr Addo admitted, was true, but said two scanners each are being installed at the import and export exit points to facilitate service delivery.
Furthermore, he was of the view that MPS would be giving reefers priority to save their wholesome food products from going bad, in order to save importers from making huge losses.
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