The Customs Department has warned against recurrence of the congestion problem at Jeddah Islamic Port in the coming months. Thousands of containers were piled up at the port some three months ago forcing diversion of ships bound for Jeddah Islamic Port, the country's largest and worst affected, to less congested ports like Dammam and Jubail. Even while recession is biting much of the business world and not much activities are visible at the Jeddah Islamic Port, a letter from the Customs Department warns of a huge increase in the number of unattended containers at the port. The letter issued last week said that the number of unattended containers has increased again and they could again clog the port as before. The letter asked the importers to complete the clearance procedures as soon as the containers arrive. The Customs Department and the Ports Authority have unveiled several steps to facilitate their clearance, the letter assured. The Customs Department has also sent sent letters to the port and the Chamber of Commerce urging them to cut down on the the quantity of arriving containers. After receiving complaints from several quarters including transport companies, clearance offices and others confirming that the handling companies responsible for receiving empty containers are refusing to receive them under the pretext that they have no place to keep them, Ibrahim Al-Aqeeli, Chairman of the Customs Clearance Committee, has called for the formation of an urgent committee to resolve the issue. Al-Aqeeli said an agreement was reached with the companies on a mechanism to end the delay in receiving containers. The problem of delay in receiving the containers is one of the major reasons in the rise of transportation charges because some trucks keep carrying empty containers for over 24 hours, he said.
