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by pltm
(PLTM) - Minister with responsibility for the Territory’s ports, Hon. Mark Vanterpool has announced that a temporary warehouse is now being sought to further ease congestion at Port Purcell.
Hon. Vanterpool said the warehouse is being sought offsite, adding that authorities are hoping to locate the store house before Christmas.
He made the announcement at a community meeting yesterday, December 10, when First District Representative, Hon. Andrew Fahie told him that business people are still having difficulty getting their items at Port Purcell.
Hon. Vanterpool said to ease the pressure, the temporary warehouse being sought will accommodate containers carrying small shipments for different individuals. He said these small shipments, called Less than Container Load (LCL), are the major cause of clogging at Port Purcell.
“If you order some galvanise from Home Depot in Miami and it comes to you through Tropical or Crowley, it comes in a container with other people’s stuff. So they have to offload that container into a warehouse on the port and then get you your stuff, and that’s where the problem is,” Hon. Vanterpool said.
He added that he said he add a meeting with local shipping companies, who are working hard to locate the warehouse by the end of this week.
“Hopefully by the end of this week they would have solved it, in terms of finding a warehouse offsite where the port will allow them to take the containers there, offload them into that warehouse, and you can go and get your stuff. You won’t have to go to the port,” the Minister explained.
The Minister added that businesses are also experiencing problems getting their items as Tropical Shipping recently had a short supply of chassis, a base on which containers are loaded and transported to businesses. However, he said the company has sourced some chassis and is resolving the issue now.
Port Purcell has been experiencing congestion since as early as August, after the Territory experienced major flooding. A large warehouse at the facility was also flattened by Hurricane Irma and this has put further strain on the small storage facility at the port.
To ease the pressure, the Port Authority has extended opening hours from 8:30 am to 7:30 pm, Mondays through Fridays, and from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm on Saturdays.
A new half-acre Free Bottom container lot located opposite Port Purcell, was opened recently to facilitate containers at the port.
