Leonardo Blair, Staff ReporterLOCAL MANUFACTURERS who had been forced to suspend or modify their businesses because of the recent redeployment of ships from the Kingston wharf should get a welcome reprieve by the end of this week, according to the Port Authority of Jamaica (PAJ).
Rosalie Donaldson, senior vice president, international marketing and client services at the PAJ, told The Gleaner yesterday that all diverted cargo should be on the island by December 23.
SHIPS DIVERTED
"As far as I understand all the cargo from the ships which were diverted will be in Kingston by December 23rd," said Ms. Donaldson.
In the meantime, Noel Hylton, president of the PAJ, has been urging importers to ensure that they pick up their cargo from the ports as early as possible to avoid congestion.
At a recent JIS, think tank, Mr. Hylton pointed out that: "No port in the world wants to store any cargo. A port is a transit point. The ships bring the cargo, the port accepts the cargo and as such, is an extension of the ship, and the cargo is accepted for delivery. Our position would be ideal if the customer comes to clear the cargo on the same day that it arrives here."
CHEAP STORAGE FEES
According to Mr. Hylton, "people have containers sitting on the port, some for 40 days, some for 29 days and so on. And what has happened is that, I can only assume, they do not have space at their factory to take the containers, and because our storage rate is very cheap, they leave them there."
Just last week, Doreen Frankson, president of the Jamaica Manufacturer's Association threatened to resign over the matter.
Ms. Frankson felt that her credibility was brought into question when she tried to get the backlog cleared up. She argued that several businessmen and women had suffered serious losses and have had to lay off workers due to the recent problems at the ports. Some manufacturers had said they would be forced to close down their operations if they were not able to access material on the ports in time to meet the Christmas rush.
