Africa-Press – Gambia. The Managing Director of the Gambia Ports Authority (GPA), Ousman Jobarteh, has disclosed GPA’s plans to engage with shipping companies to remove demurrage charges at the Port of Banjul. According to officials, demurrage charges are capped at D23,000 for 20ft containers and D46,000 for 40ft containers regardless of the length of stay at the port.
Addressing a GPA and Alport Banjul stakeholders meeting organised to review recent developments, discuss operational matters and strengthen collaboration between the port and its key partners, MD Jobarteh said the Banjul Port 4th Expansion Concession Project is beginning to yield significant improvements in reducing congestion, and ship waiting times.
“And because of that now we also want to engage the shipping lines to remove some of this congestion and demurrage charges because now that there is minimal waiting at the anchorage, the justification to impose a congestion surcharge does not exist anymore.”
He said the effect of the port concession would be felt more somewhere around six months down the line.
“We expect that by the turn of the New Year, we will start to realise cheaper freight rates and that is the message we want to put across to the shipping lines.”
Jobarteh said GPA is often asked what Albarak has brought in to warrant this turnaround in efficiency because the space has not grown physically and there is no new equipment.
“We have been asked how the efficiency is going up? But the answer I often give is that the private sector is proven to have the expertise in terms of planning and resource mobilisation.”
He said the GPA was constrained in the public sector by some of the procurement regulations.
“But when it comes to Albarak even if the equipment availability figures have gone from 40% to 80%, they could at the touch of a button or a phone call order the materials that are needed because they have the resources and connections to do so,” he said.
“That has been the game changer and generally in terms of planning, the private sector has proven to be better. The analogy we try to give about the port operations usually is that businesses go where there is efficiency, speed and less cost.
That’s why people bring their transit cargo to Banjul. So these are some of the things that we try to improve in Banjul.”
He said the GPA will continue engaging Albarak on a day-to-day basis to ensure that what “we envisage and what we want, the good things we want for our port, the speed, the efficiency, the return of cargos going to transit countries and better pay for the staff, Dock Workers who are the most critical people in this operation and training opportunities.”
“It is also our responsibility to ensure that people are adequately compensated.”
Jobarteh also commended GPA partners in Sanyang.
“We are lucky that we have engaged very established and accomplished Gambians in that community who had experience managing projects of similar nature in other countries.”
He said despite the early resentment in terms of the miscommunication about the landed properties that were going to be affected, “We are thankful that we have been able to resolve the matter and they have now collaborated with us to identify the land area that is required for the value-added activities that would support the port business.”
“For clarity purposes, it is not all of the activities that are given to the concession partner. There are things that are reserved for Gambian nationals so that we can have local champions who would invest in these support services like the value-added activities, the truck parking, the insurance companies, banking, and warehouses,” he said.
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