THE EDITOR, Sir:WITH REFERENCE to the current container backlog at the two main Ports of Kingston, I offer a few suggestions.
1. The Port, customs and ship agents could allow the smaller container ships to use the facilities at Kingston Wharves and the gantry cranes at berth 10-11.
2. Reduce the volume of non-containerised cargo to come in berths 1-8 such as cars, lumber, steel, heavy equipment during this time of the year when container traffic grows.
3. Use straddle carriers to pack and retrieve containers at berths 1-8 and then use stackers to load onto trucks in a central loading area.
4. Use stackers at APM Terminals that can place containers (empty) six units high instead of only stackers that can only go possibly four high.
5. Institute temporary site inspection on customer premises. This would improve the flow of released containers from the ports to the customers site. This could be done for large volume importers and customs could send two or three officers as required.
6. Regulate the gates at the terminals to allow faster document processing for exit. Instead of the truck driving up to the gate and waiting, have the documents and container specifications checked at the central loading area as the trailer is loaded and then have a cursory exam at the gate. Trucks wait too long at the gate to do simple document processing.
7. Customs could work in tandem with APM Terminals to operate a temporary validation and collections branch at the terminal for the Christmas period.
This would allow for faster duty payment to container release process, which would lead to quicker container removal from the Port. This could be for the short as well as the long-term and is not too difficult to achieve in this age of advanced technology and communication.
I am, etc.,
GRAHAM REYNOLDS
greynolds@ivsja.com
