Port go-slow cost exceeds Rs.1billion -ACFA

Channa KASTURISINGHE

COLOMBO PORT: The damage caused by eight-day work to rule campaign by Sri Lanka Ports Authority trade unions could be as high as Rs. 1 billion, the Chairman of the Association of Clearing and Forwarding Agents, M.S.M Niyaz said.

He told the Daily News that the disruption to movement of cargo due to the trade union action could as well have long term negative effects on the export and import sectors.

"This kind of disruption can seriously affect the confidence of overseas suppliers and buyers which can have long term repercussions. Therefore, the unions and authorities should make every effort to avoid such unfortunate incidents," Niyaz said.

He said at the moment the level of congestion at the port is too high due to the backlog created at the port. "It will take some time to reduce this congestion. It will even take as long as another one month," Niyaz said.

He said that most of the containers shipped to Colombo during the period when the port workers were engaged in a go slow campaign have been dislocated in several other ports in the region.

"These containers which are now in ports such as Singapore, Malaysia, Bombay and Dubai have to be shipped again to Colombo," Niyaz said.

He said importation of perishable items is one business that can be affected due to the disruptions at Colombo Port. "This business heavily depend on mutual trust between importers and overseas suppliers," Niyaz said.

He said in order to reduce congestion at the Port he has submitted some proposals to the Chairman of Sri Lanka Ports Authority.

"There are certain measures like sending all the LCL (Less Container Load) cargo to the off-port container freight station at Peliyagoda. That would reduce the pressure on the Port to a great extent," Niyaz said.

He said the movement of vehicles transporting containers is also affected.

"There is a huge traffic jam at the entrance to the port. The normal turnaround time of 2 hours for a vehicle to transport containers in and out of the port has now increased up to about 8 hours," Niyaz said. (CK)