The Filipino government will privatise operations at the Port of Davao in an effort to cope with increasing demand for capacity there.
According to a report by the Business Mirror, the department of transport and communications is now drawing up the terms of the privatisation plans.
“We’ve been seeing volume growth in the port at a rate of seven per cent to 10 per cent every year for the last eight years,” said Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) district manager for Southern Mindanao Christian Santillan. “We `the Port of Davao` are the best-performing port in Mindanao even compared with Northern Mindanao.”
While the port is handling increased volume, the Business Mirror reported shipping lines have been scathing about the condition of the port and claim it puts into jeopardy the country’s billion-dollar banana industry.
Around 70 per cent of the cargo handled by the port is bananas from Davao and nearby areas, the report stated.
An official at shipping line APL told the news source the port needs a major overhaul as it currently affects the efficiencies of shipping companies.
The official said the average waiting time of its vessels at the port is around two days. Costs are accrued during this time through having vessels sitting idle and extra fuel is also burned.
“The process `of cargo handling` takes even longer since they `PPA` don’t have a crane and all of the vessels that we use have `cargo handling` gears,” the APL official said.
The PPA has previously stated it would need around P3.98bn (US$91m) to develop the port. This would involve the strengthening of berths one and two, the development of container yard three, the construction of 300 container-yard reefer outlets as well as the installation of four gantry cranes and eight rubber-tired gantry cranes.
On completion the planned developments would double the capacity of the port so it could handle around 1.3m twenty-foot equivalent units.
