EXPORTERS OF fresh produce from the Norman Manley International Airport, Kingston, could face problems tomorrow, as the private firm assisting in the pre-clearance facility has decided to move out today.
The move comes against the background of a decision by the Ministry of Agriculture to assume control of the facility as of tomorrow, April 1, despite attempts to persuade Minister of Agriculture Roger Clarke to keep the present operator.
A source close to the operation told The Gleaner that the private firm, Agri-Partners, had insisted that the Ministry should pay for the furniture and equipment, as well as costs of redundancy for the workers, if they were insisting on taking over the agricultural complex.
However, the source said that although the Ministry yesterday sent a cheque to cover the redundancy payments, there has been no indication that they were prepared to pay for the assets.
Agri-Partners would therefore be moving to protect its assets by moving out office equipment and furniture, including their computers, as well as fork lifts and other machinery at the end of today.
"Sunday is usually very busy and that could affect a lot of exporters if the Ministry does not act," said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Agri-Partners, which operates a joint venture with the Agricultural Marketing Corpo-ration (AMC), manages the agricultural export complex at the Norman Manley Airport and provides fumigation, chill, coldroom, and ambient storage services for exporters, as well as support to the pre-clearance programme.
