Aaron Tay
KUCHING (Apr 25): Kuching Port Authority (KPA) should consider bearing the ‘port congestion surcharges’ imposed on merchants to reduce the loss caused by the computer system failure at Senari Port, said Tay Motors(M) Sdn Bhd director Aaron Tay Kok Tung.
He said because the incident was mainly due to the failure of Senari Port’s computer system which led to issues with the handling of containers, merchants should not be the ones that need to bear the additional charges.
“The delay in container processing time caused shipping companies to impose port congestion surcharges on import as well as export merchants. The surcharge for a 20-foot container is RM300 and a surcharge of RM600 is for a larger 40-foot container.
“If import and export merchants are requested to pay for these extra charges, these charges will inevitably be passed on to the goods, and consumers would have to pay for it,” he said in a statement yesterday.
Tay said in regard to his own motorcycle business, there are currently many containers shipped from Peninsular Malaysia that cannot be taken out of the cargo ship due to the failure of the port’s computer system.
“Not only do we have to face losses for the delayed delivery to customers, but additional charges are also now being levied.
“Therefore, I hope that Kuching Port Authority can negotiate with the shipping company and bear the ‘port congestion extra charges’ due to the failure of the port’s computer system,” he said.
Adding on, he hoped that KPA would upgrade Senari Port’s computer facilities including strengthening all backup facilities, in case of an emergency.
“They would need to improve the deficiencies of hardware facilities as well, including insufficient or malfunctioning boom cranes and lack of manpower operation, so as to speed up the movement of the containers in and out of the port in order to reduce the loss of businesses,” Tay said.
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