MANILA: An organisation of truckers and Customs brokers staged protests in front of various government agencies and at port operator Asian Terminals Inc (ATI) yesterday to decry the seeming lack of action to address congestion in Manila’s ports.
Members of the Alyansa ng Truckers at mga Organisasyon sa mga Puerto (ATOP) held rallies in front of the Bureau of Customs (BOC), Philippine Ports Authority (PPA), Manila City Hall, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and ATI to complain about the port congestion that is wreaking havoc on their businesses.
The demonstrators assembled at the Manila Cathedral and Rizal Park before proceeding to the government agencies.
In a manifesto, the group said “the port congestion is a persistent problem that adds to our burden every year. This is caused by the new regulations in the port area. We are afraid that this would affect the country’s economy, further worsen the traffic in Metro Manila, and become a headache to businessmen in the country.”
Despite the reported efforts exerted by the government to address port congestion, Aduana Business Club (ABC) president Mary Zapata said there are no signs of improvement.
Zapata said that all the reported efforts of the Cabinet cluster on port congestion, as disclosed by the PPA, were mere words and have not materialized.
Just last week, the PPA announced that the Cabinet cluster on port congestion would be undertaking eight measures to address the problem, such as leasing a 10-hectare lot located in the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) complex that would serve as a temporary holding area for empty shipping containers.
They have also allowed the release of cargo during weekend so that 25 percent of the daily cargo volume would be let out during Saturdays and Sundays.
They are also encouraging cargo owners to utilize other nearby ports such as Batangas and Subic. They would also transfer customs-cleared, overstaying cargo out of Manila.
The PPA said that port congestion continues to ease with yard utilization both at the Manila International Container Port (MICP) and South Harbour (SH) reduced to 89 percent.
But Zapata said this was not true and that PPA has not even called for a meeting to discuss the port congestion issue.
“There has been no improvement. It is even worse, we can testify on that. We are not here to invent stories. These are just press releases, there is no realization yet. It has not been converted into action,” Zapata said.
She added that the PPA is not doing anything “despite the fact that we have been paying fees to resolve this problem. We paid the terminal handling charge, port congestion surcharge and emergency recovery surcharge which is more or less $1,300 for a 40-footer container van.”
Jeffrey Malasi of Powerlane Truckers, a member of ATOP, said that they are also protesting the alleged corruption at the ATI.
The Philippine star
