The Plenary of the Liberian Senate has cited relevant authorities in the maritime and commercial sectors over the excessive delays in clearing of goods at the Freeport of Monrovia.
By Obediah Johnson
Those cited include heads of the National Port Authority (NPA), APM Terminals Liberia, MEDTECH Scientific Limited, Global Tracking and Maritime Solutions (GTMS), Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA) – Customs Department, as well as the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and the Brokers Union / Customs Brokers Association of Liberia.
The Senators took the decision on Tuesday, October 27 following the submission of a communication from Gbarpolu County Senator Amara Konneh.
In his communication, Senator Konneh observed that for the past several months, Liberian business community, especially Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) have complained that containers destined for Liberia are spending an average of over 30 days at sea before berthing at the Freeport.
Quoting importers and shipping agents, Senator Konneh disclosed that the majority of these vessels are being routed to and queued at ports in Côte d’Ivoire an Ghana.
Senator Konneh alleged that these delays are due to two critical operational constraints at the Freeport of Monrovia.
He named the operational constraints as the lack of adequate yard space to accommodate additional containers; and the inability of larger vessels to berth at the Freeport due to prolonged delays in dredging the port basin and channel.
He maintained that these delays are severely hurting business inventories, tying up working capital, leading to stock-outs, and imposing heavy demurrage costs.
Burdensome Transaction Costs
In addition to delays, Senator Konneh observed that businesses are burdened by a multiplicity of opaque transaction costs and fees charged by APM Terminals, MEDTECH, GTMS and other actors in the supply chain.
He added that these charges are being passed on to consumers.
He observed that prices are sticky despite macroeconomic improvement.
“Distinguished Colleagues, it is concerning that while headline inflation has declined to 4.6% and the Liberian Dollar has gained strength against the US Dollar, consumer prices remain stubbornly high. The inefficiencies and high costs at our ports are potentially a major driver of these sticky prices, thereby negating the gains of Government’s ongoing macroeconomic stabilization program under the IMF Extended Credit Facility.”
Senator Konneh disclosed that these issues, if not urgently addressed, will continue to undermine private sector competitiveness, discourage investment, and erode the purchasing power of ordinary Liberians.
He stressed that these officials should appear before the Senate to testify to these concerns and to present concrete solutions being proposed to address them:
“We seek clarity on the current state of dredging, the berthing and yard capacity challenges, the full schedule of fees charged and the immediate and medium-term measures being taken to decongest the port and reduce costs for Liberian businesses.”
Meanwhile, authorities of the various institutions are expected to appear before the Senate Plenary next Tuesday.
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