KARACHI: Federal Minister for Maritime Affairs Faisal Sabzwari has said that the government has decided to exempt the stuck-up containers at ports from demurrage charges and also minimize detention charges of the terminals to facilitate the business community.
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His announcement came within days after a startling revelation made by Chief Collector, Customs Enforcement South, Karachi, Muhammad Yaqoob Mako, who said a huge sum of dollars are going out of country because of demurrage and detention charges.
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It is pertinent to mention here that the importers are facing huge amount of demurrage and detention charges because of delay in opening of Letter of Credit (LCs) by commercial banks. The banks are not opening the LCs due to shortage of dollars. But on the other hand the importers are paying demurrage and detention charges in foreign currency.
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Taking to Twitter, Faisal Sabzwari said the decision to waive off the demurrage was taken in view of the hardships of business community after their containerised imported cargoes were stuck up at the ports for the last several weeks.
گزشتہ کئی ہفتوں سے بندرگاہوں پر پھنسے کنٹینرز سے کاروباری طبقے کو درپیش مشکلات کا ادراک کرتے ہوئے وزارت بحری امور نے فیصلہ کیا ہے کہ اس ضمن میں بندرگاہوں کو ملنے والی جرمانوں کی رقوم کو معاف کیا جائے اور ساتھ ہی ٹرمینلز کی جانب سے عائد جرمانوں میں خاطر خواہ کمی کی کوشش کی جائے- 1
— Faisal Subzwari (@faisalsubzwari) January 19, 2023
He said “the economy can be stabilised by providing relief to the business community,” he said, adding that the officials of the ministry would hold consultations with representatives of business community for more measures in that regard.
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