Minister tours wharves to see Xmas barrel rush
Stabroek News
December 23, 2003
A crowded Laparkan Shipping Company office greeted Finance Minister Saisnarine Kowlessar last week as he toured several city wharves to see first hand, procedures for clearing barrels.
The minister, accompanied by Guyana Revenue Authority Commissioner Khurshid Sattaur and Deputy Commissioner General Clement Sealy, was shown the facilities offered by the wharves to enable quick service. The minister had toured Muneshwers only hours before it was destroyed by fire.
Following the tour of the Guyana National Industrial Company (GNIC) complex, he told reporters he had agreed to visit the wharves to see the systems in place to clear barrels in time for Christmas.
Some 450 persons are currently being served in seven hours per day from the GNIC wharf alone and customs officials said they hoped to accelerate the process this week.
Customs Officer in charge at the wharf, Richie Park, said his team was working round the clock to ensure that as much of the barrels as possible were cleared in time. Currently, the wharf is seeing more than ten containers per day being unloaded.
Park used the opportunity to request additional staff and equipment to deal with the increased workload and separate desks to facilitate goods arriving by air cargo.
A number of customers said they were getting through although they had to wait for some hours.