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Export council seeks decongestion of Manila Port by diverting cargoes to Batangas, Subic |
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The country's export overseer has asked the P-Noy government to decongest the Manila Seaport by diverting the loading and unloading of international cargoes to the Batangas Port for goods that are coming from and bound to Southern Luzon.
The Subic Freeport should also be made the pick-up and unloading points for shipments to and from Central and Northern Luzon.
The transportation committee of the private-public Export Development Council (EDC) made this pitch as it sought for government intervention in solving the critical congestion of the country's primary seaport while recently modernized ports nearby remain underused.
In a recent presentation, Committee Chairman Meneleo Carlos pointed out that with the signing of an executive order, President Aquino can ease the congestion of the Manila Port of at least one fifth of an average of 6,000 truckloads entering the metropolis every day.
After its modernization was completed in 2006, the Batangas Port can now accommodate between 1,200 and 1,600 container trucks a day, the presentation pointed out. After its modernization, the southern Luzon port has gained a capacity of 400,000 TEUs (20-foot containers) a year.
The Batangas and Subic ports were modernized with a foreign loan to the tune of US$ 240 million, but both ports are moving goods at below one tenth of their handling capacities.
More than half of all international cargoes passing through the Manila Port comes from the CALABARZON region, specifically its over 1,000 Philippine Export Zone Authority (PEZA) locators housed in 42 industrial zones. It has become the fastest growing region in the country accounting for one fifth of the total value of goods made in the country a year.
Carlos argued that international shipping lines continue to patronize the Manila Port simply because it carries the significant cargo traffic. Without direct orders from Malacanang and more specific instructions from agencies involved in international trade, the situation will not be remedied.
It further said that the timing for such a strategic decision is just right as the support road networks in southern and central Luzon have been set in place which include the extension of the south superhighway right to the doorsteps of the Batangas Port and the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Superhighway that opens up speedy transportation in Central Luzon. -- Abe P. Belena, PHILEXPORT News and Features
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