Customs delays and truck congestion at ports must be addressed urgently if the Ports and Shipping sector is to generate revenue to the country, Ports and Shipping industry experts said.
Ships are not going to wait indefinitely in ports till the Customs gets its operations going and its backlogs are cleared, they said.
Long lines of containers leading to the Colombo Port have been a common sight for years causing congestion on the roads leading to Colombo from Thotalanga, Kotahena, Inguru kade junction and Grandpass.
Howls of protest over negligence to address congestion at the port have fallen on deaf ears.
Colombo Port Managing Director Ganaka Hemachandra said the problem of port congestion is not the responsibility of the Sri Lanka Ports Authority. It is the responsibility of the Customs.
“One of the main reasons for the congestion at the port is that the number of containers released from the terminals is higher than the number released from the Customs gates,” he said.
Besides the two terminals, Jaya Container Terminal (JCT) and East Container Terminal (ECT) handled by the SLPA the other two, Colombo International Terminals Ltd (CICT) and the South Asia Gateway Terminal (SAGT) are managed privately.
Although it had been agreed by the Customs to work 24 hours at the last meeting with the Minister of Ports, SLPA officials, the Customs and the shipping community last Sunday, it does not happen, according to a Colombo Port official.
A retired senior Sri Lanka Customs official said had the Government acquired the 25-acre block of land at Bloemendhal, which is used to dump garbage, the container congestion at the port could have been solved to a great extent.
“That is the best place since it’s very close to the port with a dedicated road and it would have helped avoid delays in clearance,” he said, adding that another block of land at Kerawalapitiya too was proposed but the authorities failed to act on it.
He said the Customs alone cannot solve this problem even if its staff works 24/7. All those involved in port operations including container drivers and the support staff must cooperate to deliver a good service.
However, of the 2,000 containers stuck at the port around 1,330 had been released by Thursday afternoon according to sources at the port.
Ports Minister Bimal Rathnayake told journalists last week that around 30 ships had by-passed the Colombo Port due to delays at the Customs and truck congestion.
He said so following a meeting President Anura Kumara Dissanayake had with Customs and port service providers over the weekend to speed up clearing import containers.
A shipper said that while a couple of containers are checked many are held back for further checks causing a backlog and delays.
Sri Lanka loses a significant amount of revenue from port operations each year due to delays and congestion, he said. “The number of containers left uncleared a day can be easily brought down if delays could be addressed,” the shipper said.
