DELIVERIES OF CONTAINERS to waiting trucks were on pause as a lack of equipment caused a delay at the Bridgetown Port yesterday morning.
Port Authority Inc.’s chief executive officer, David Jean-Marie, could not be reached for comment after repeated calls were made to his office, but sources at the Port said only two of the eight Valmets – the pieces of equipment that remove the containers from cargo ships and transfer them to waiting trucks – were working. Most days four Valmets were operational.
“So all they were doing is taking the containers off the ships but they are not being delivered,” one worker who wished to remain anonymous said.
Another worker, who also requested anonymity, declared that the department was short of the crucial equipment and as a result, the drivers of two Valmets were concentrating their efforts on removing the containers from the cargo vessels.
As a result, there was no equipment to transfer the cargo to the waiting trucks. There were two cargo ships in Port yesterday morning and the move would affect big companies like Massy Supermarkets which would have containers of items waiting to be delivered.
“They can’t put them on the trucks ‘cause it would slow down things ‘cause a ship only supposed to stand for a certain amount of time,” the source said.
The workers added they had been told by management that taxes would be waived until today.
“We were told if it’s taxable today that they would waive them so we will bring them out tomorrow.” (HLE)
