- Ricardo Makyn/Staff Photographer
Holiday shoppers making their way down a not-so-busy King Street in the heart of the commercial district, downtown Kingston, yesterday.
Damion Mitchell and Glenroy Sinclair, Staff Reporters
MERCHANTS ARE fearing that congestion at the APM Terminal in Kingston could cost them millions this Christmas, because of the delay in clearing their goods.
In an attempt to find a solution to the problem, Robert Pickersgill, minister of transport and works, has called a press conference for this morning at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in New Kingston to meet with the stakeholders.
"I believe that the situation (the delay in clearing goods) may lead to a number of businessmen becoming financially embarrassed early next year," said a very prominent merchant, who spoke on the terms of anonymity. This, out of fear, he said, of being victimised.
SEEKING LEGAL ADVICE
Apart from the long delay in getting his goods, the merchant said he is now seeking legal advice in a bid to recover thousands of dollars he believes he has been overcharged by the shipping lines. He charged that the pile-up of containers at the APM Terminal began around September 1.
"Right now I have over 50 containers waiting to be collected. If you don't drop a money here and there, you cannot get your goods. I have been complaining to everybody," the merchant said.
Meanwhile, Trevor Fearon, executive director of the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce (JCC), told The Gleaner that there was a clear cost to having goods "held up" on the terminal. He said it did not appear that the conditions at the ports would return to normal soon, despite measures imposed by the Port Authority of Jamaica (PAJ). The PAJ has extended business hours including opening on weekends, and has improved collaboration with the Customs Department in order to ease the backlog.
PAJ President Noel Hylton told The Gleaner last week that the backlog was a common occurrence at Christmas, but Mr. Fearon said yesterday that Hurricane Ivan, which hit the island in September, had also contributed, given the routing of additional cargo to Jamaica.
The Customs Department has also been blamed for the backlog, as, according to George Habib, proprietor of Habib Supermart, the department was still failing to expedite the paperwork necessary for clearing goods from the ports.
"All the improvement at Customs are not being used in the proper way," he asserted.
DIFFICULTY COMPOUNDED
Mr. Habib said while he had managed to clear some of his Christmas cargo earlier this year, there were some basic items which were still on the wharf. He said the situation was compounded as there is difficulty in locating some of the items.
And Gassan Azan, chief executive officer of Bashco Trading Company, has described the situation at the ports as grave. Dionne Lane, business and marketing coordinator of Mainland International, said the company has been unable to accommodate orders placed by its customers.
- Joseph Cunningham, Gleaner intern, contributed to this story
