Faster clearance of barrels promised

Barbadians expecting barrels and packages for Christmas were given an assurance Tuesday of faster clearance times as they collect goods from family and friends this year.

As primary school children watched on, Minister in the Ministry of Finance Ryan Straughn told the House of Assembly that the Customs Department has been making provision for the expected increases in the arrival of items at the Bridgetown Port.

But Straughn suggested that a smooth process of clearing items at the Port is also highly dependent on other “stakeholders” involved in the process.

He said the Ministry of Finance is to meet with brokers and freighters to ensure they had the correct systems in place to ensure the timely processing of items.

Straughn gave the assurances as he introduced the Customs Bill which will repeal and replace the Customs Act.

“This, I believe is a start with respect to one of the very critical things in relation to the modernization of customs,” he said of the new bill.

Straughn said because people were not travelling as they were up to 2019, there has been a noticeable increase in the arrival of packages that individuals would have travelled with otherwise.

He said the Customs Department has taken proactive measures in ensuring that it had the necessary manpower in place to deal with the expected influx of items in the five weeks leading up to Christmas.

Straughn said: “I know most people just want to know how quickly they can get their items out of the port. Certainly, over the past three weeks, we have seen a 50 per cent increase in the arrival of packages in the country and the Comptroller has already dispatched additional personnel to deal with that, but I will be meeting tomorrow with the operators as we move into this Yuletide season to ensure that they too are stepping up to the plate to facilitate the process with respect to persons getting their items.

“I am very clear in my mind that we have gone through a very serious year and the extent to which we can make our Yuletide season as pleasant as we possibly could is important so that when we meet with them they share with us their plans for how they will operate certainly over the next few weeks to allow  as seamless a process as possible . . . We will be meeting with the operators to see what it is they are doing within their own specific internal procedures to see how best we can unlock the backlog that certainly has emanated.”

He stressed that it was necessary for the entire network of the trade logistics to be able to respond to the demands and better facilitate the clearing of goods at the Bridgetown Port.

Tuesday’s sitting of the House was attended by five pupils between the ages of seven and ten from the Wesley Hall Junior School, Hindsbury Primary School, Eagle Hall Primary School and St George Primary School. They were accompanied by a parent of one of the students. (MM)