Four days given to clear cargoes from ports
Wee: Companies have four days to move stored goods from ports
It’s good news for companies whose cargoes are held up at ports around the country. Freight forwarders and hauliers have four days from today to speed up the clearing of goods from congested ports, says Transport Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong.
Freight forwarders and hauliers have been given another four days starting today to speed up the movement of cargo from congested ports nationwide.
Companies which have goods stored in Port Klang and ports in Johor, Penang, Kuantan, Melaka, Bintulu and Padang Besar are advised to move their cargo out from today till Tuesday, says Transport Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong.
He said this decision was made after consultation with the National Security Council.
It followed an earlier decision which had proven effective in reducing nearly 100% congestion at major ports nationwide.
The first round of clearing took place from March 27 to 29.
“However, to ensure the smooth and continued flow of much-needed daily essentials for households, it has been proven necessary to conduct these port clearing exercises from time to time to allow companies to expedite the movement of their cargo.
“This exercise ensures essential goods are delivered unhampered to the communities that need them in the second phase of the movement control order (MCO),” he said in a statement yesterday.
Dr Wee said the ministry’s allowance to the ports had led to companies expediting the movement of their goods out of the ports, adding this resulted in reduced congestion and ensured essential goods reach their intended destination.
The ministry had shared its standard operating procedures to ports and those in foreign countries that had requested it, he said.
This latest port-clearing exercise is in line with the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act (Measures within the Infected Local Areas) (No. 2) Regulations 2020, which took effect during the phase two of the MCO from
April 1 to 14.
This is pursuant to the amendments made to Regulations No. 2, port, dock and airport services and undertakings, and transportation by land, water, or air constitute essential services.
“This means that any activity and process in the supply chain of port, dock and airport services and undertaking and transportation by land, water or air are also deemed as essential services,” said Dr Wee.
Queries can be directed to aduan@mot.gov.my, 019-290 7723 (WhatsApp), 1-800-88-7723 HOTLINE (8am-8pm), log on to cccovid19.mot.gov.my or call the National Operations Management Centre of the National Security Council at 03-8888 2010.