By Danesius Marteh,
The President of the National Customs Brokers Association of Liberia has called for a national investment action by the government to address issues affecting the National Port Authority (NPA).
James Hinneh believes the problems of congestion at the port and delay of vessels on arrival will continue unless intentional investment is made in the sector.
Hinneh was speaking on the Prime Morning Drive on Prime FM 105.5 on Friday.
“The problem that exists in the port is real in terms of congestion and delays from vessels arrival.
“The action required is a national investment action that the government needs to take.
“By us making these alarms, it is hopefully bringing visibility to the people in authority to act,” said Hinneh.
Hinneh praised NPA managing director Sekou Dukuly for taking short to medium and long term actions, including the dredging of the port and allowing port operations to continue on Saturdays and Sundays, including the clearance of containers, six months ago.
“The solution to the problems isn’t going to be quick fix. It is not going to come out of protest.
“To say because we protest so ship starts coming fast, fast. Some of the actions that are supposed to be taken is what the MD [managing director] is doing, to dredge the port, to allow the bigger vessels to come in directly.
“And in two weeks, he said, they are going to start the dredging. After that dredging, Maersk will start bringing vessels directly in our port.
“That will help to mitigate the problems. With the congestion in the port, government needs to take action to create the necessary facility and space to accommodate more containers.
“Our business people, who import, need to act swiftly when the goods arrive so that they don’t delay the cargo in the port to create the same congestion problems we are talking about,” he added.
