‘Port congestion to last until 2015’

MANILA, Philippines – The public should brace for more traffic jams on roads around the Port of Manila as port decongestion is not expected to be completed until early 2015.

Trade Secretary Gregory Domingo made the assessment yesterday at the budget hearing conducted by the Senate committee on finance.

Domingo said there are about 78,000 shipping containers stuck in the Manila port that need to be moved out, but only 4,500 containers are taken out of the port daily.

At the rate things are going, Domingo said it would take until the first quarter of 2015 to remove the shipping containers at the POM.

He also expressed support for calls to extend operating hours at the POM on weekends.

Proper coordination among government agencies, truckers, shippers and brokers is also needed to avoid further overcrowding at the POM.

The port congestion was caused by the truck ban imposed by the city government of Manila last February.

Meanwhile, the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) will be tapping the New Container Terminal (NCT) 2 of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) as an extension of Manila’s ports to address port congestion.

The PPA and SBMA agreed that for a year, the NCT 2 would accommodate some of the cargoes intended for the POM and the Manila International Container Port (MICP).

Under a memorandum of agreement, the NCT 2 would only be utilized as an extension facility of the two Manila ports for the following reasons.

First is to unload containerized import cargoes on board a foreign vessel, with the POM indicated in the bill of lading and/or other shipping documents as the port of destination.

Second is to load containerized export cargoes to a foreign vessel, with the POM indicated in the bill of lading and/or other shipping documents as the port of origin.

Third is for the transshipment of containerized cargoes, with the POM indicated in the bill of lading and/or other shipping documents as transshipment port.

The agreement further provides that foreign vessels utilized for any of such purposes can load or unload empty containers to or from the port designated.

The agreement also provides that the loading or unloading of export or import containerized cargoes, including empty containers, in the port to be designated shall be made upon the sole determination by the PPA that there is no available suitable berth for the vessel and its cargo at the POM.

Earlier, the Department of Trade and Industry said growth in exports might slow down this year with the port congestion problem.

Domingo said the government would have to determine the impact of the port congestion to see the trend.

“I’m sure there is impact. My guess is the eight to 10 percent growth might be reduced, but if growth in exports is faster – say at 12 percent – then we will just have slow growth,” he explained.

The Philippine Economic Zone Authority also said recently that it might review its growth targets as the prolonged port congestion is already hurting exports. –Christina Mendez (The Philippine Star) with Evelyn Macairan