MINISTER PICKERSGILL ANNOUNCES PLANS TO EASE BACK-UP AT PORTS

 

Minister Robert Pickersgill at a Press Conference at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel on Tuesday, December7, 2004 used the opportunity to explain the reason for the apparent backlog of cargo at the ports and the attendant measures to ease the congestion.

The Minister explained that the increased activities that have occurred from time to time in the last few months resulting in delays in the clearance of cargo, had their genesis in a 26% increase in business at the terminal in the month of July this year. He said, ‘In and of itself, any bottlenecks arising from that increase in business would have been sorted out over a relatively short period, but shipping in the region as a whole and, in the port of Kingston as well, was to be significantly impacted by Mother Nature a short while thereafter.’ He also highlighted the fact that Hurricanes ‘Francis’, ‘Jean’ and ‘Ivan’ wreaked havoc on some port facilities in the region, with far reaching re-scheduling of timetables and operations.

Continuing, he said that Freeport in the Bahamas, the third regional hub, was devastated by Hurricane Francis. The Port of Miami as well as other ports were affected to a lesser extent. Consequently, more ships and their cargo were making stops in Jamaica. So then, the prior increasing volume of business, taken together with the effect of the delays caused at other regional ports by the active hurricane season spawned significant issues on operations at the Port of Kingston. To demonstrate this, the volume of imports at the Kingston Container Terminal for October in the wake of the hurricane, rose some 24% over that planned for and there has been a further 20% increase since then.

By way of background, it should be noted that the Kingston Container Terminal currently has a rated capacity to handle 1.2 million TEU’s (or twenty-foot container moves) annually. Over the past several years, a continuing expansion programme has been undertaken at the Kingston Container Terminal. That expansion programme is now in its fourth phase, after completion of which, the rated capacity of the Terminal will be 1.5 million TEU’s annually. Additionally, a management contract was awarded to APM Terminals (Jamaica Ltd.), a subsidiary of the A.P Moller group of Denmark. With the award of that contract the Terminal subsequently experienced a significant upturn in the efficiency of its operations.

Kingston Wharves Ltd. have experienced a significant upturn in volumes being handled. Their operation now have a rated capacity to handle some 100,000 TEU’s annually. They however expect to actually deal with a 20% margin above that rating or some 120,000 twenty foot container moves this year.

Notwithstanding all the positives associated with the Port of Kingston, it has been experiencing a challenge with regard to storage space for containers. Two main factors have exacerbated that situation:

The Port Authority of Jamaica (PAJ) had moved to quickly to secure additional storage space for containers but the additional space that was secured is now also taxed, with some 4,600 empty containers at the terminal.

In order to help alleviate the build-up of containers, the PAJ has:

Additional measures being adopted include:

These initiatives which have been implemented have broken the back of the delays in the delivery associated with domestic cargo. The main cause currently resulting in delays in the clearance and delivery of some goods, is the backlog of vessels with cargo to be discharged. That backlog has now been reduced from fifteen to ten vessels. The desired position is a complete clearance of the backlog.

By the 5th of January, the PAJ will have an additional 350 metres of berthing space at the Kingston terminal. This phase of the development will also provide for adequate additional storage space to come on stream in February. The attendant operational equipment, four super post Panamex cranes will also have arrived in the island.

Turning to the matter of notice being given to collect a container, Minister Pickersgill said that a system is coming whereby 24 hours notice is to be given in advance to the port by truckers and customs brokers to signal their intention to haul a container.

This practice which has facilitated smoother operations at other similarly busy ports in the world will be introduced at the Port of Kingston in the near future. There are also plans to introduce a new gate system governing access to the port, which is also expected to enhance the streamlining of operations. In this respect, it is the intention of the PAJ that soon after the alignment of Highway 2000 vis’-a-vis’ the Port is established, that an electronic gate with X-Ray capabilities will be installed. This will speed up the receipt and delivery of containers at the gate and will dramatically reduce the paperwork that is required of the truckers.

Plans for Phase 5 of the expansion programme which was scheduled for 2007 will be fast forwarded.