If you were on Jane Usher Boulevard this morning, you would have seen lines of container trucks waiting to get into the Port of Belize. This backlog of containers that need to be loaded has been building up for about two weeks now and customs brokers are frustrated. According to one customs broker, it's taking the port 5 hours to load the trucks, and importers are not happy. He explained more today.
Delroy Fairweather, Customs Broker
"It has been for the last week or more, we are having major issues getting containers taken out of the port. I just want to categorically state that we are not in any quarrel with the port or anything of that sort but we're just asking for better service. The average time to get a container out of the port, five hours, totally unacceptable and that includes having trucks lined up, as you can see here in the background, lined up in the port trying to get a turn to get on the scale to get into the port. You have truckers saying that they are here from 3 in the morning just to try and get in to try and see how many containers they could get out. So the primary issue we're faced with right now is one where we're basically just, we're not getting the type of service we're supposed to be getting. A port cannot be working on, you just get one container loaded for the day, or two containers per day, that will not help."
"The same equipment that is used to offload the vessel, that's the same equipment that they use to offload and load these containers and apparently the vessels get priority because obviously they have to get the vessels in and out. We have an average of 4 or 5 vessels coming into this country every week and that, if you looking at a five day week of operation, that's like every day and a quarter, like everyday there's a vessel here. So coupled with vessels coming in, containers being offloaded, empties coming back, equipment malfunction and we're also asking to extend the opening time because prior to COVID you used to could get your container loaded her in the port up until 6, when COVID came basically when happened now is the cut off time is at 4:00."
"You have importers calling you like man, when am I going to get my container, I am tired of giving the same excuse, well, you know I can't get your container loaded from Tuesday or Monday, it's ridiculous."
Courtney Menzies:
"And you're saying that the reason is because they have some type of equipment that's broken?"
Delroy Fairweather, Customs Broker
"And I won't hide it, that will not be hidden. The equipment that they have continuously malfunctions and breaks down. From what I've heard, this equipment works a couple hours and then has to go back in… it's really ridiculous so the port really needs to get its act together. Like I said we're not quarreling with the port because we have to have a relationship with them because if the port fails, I fail, the country fails."
Due to the delays, the Port had to extend its opening hours to 6:00 pm today.
We reached out to Port CEO Arturo "Tux" Vasquez today and he said that two out of three of their pieces of yard equipment are down, one of which was damaged accidentally, and not due to a mechanical failure. The other equipment is down due to an electronic issue.
He added that the long line of trucks is not unusual and it is not due to the equipment, it's on a daily basis. And specifically this morning, he said there was a truck that broke down in front of the scale, which created the delay.
Parts of the equipment are being expedited at the moment. He added, quote, "We recognize the importance, and certainly prioritize these situations... I do understand the frustration that people can experience by this." End quote.
