Physical Address
Indirizzo: Via Mario Greco 60, Buttigliera Alta, 10090, Torino, Italy
The President of the Republic wants a new vision for port management. With the aim of improving the performance of port activities, the government is required to design a new port management strategy capable of decongesting ports. A file that the Ministry of Transport is already looking into, which is considering a specialization of commercial ports, the objective being to decongest ports as much as possible.
This was indicated this Monday by Djamel Eddine Abdelghani Dridi, Secretary General at the Ministry of Transport, in his statement on national radio. “Today, we are thinking about the specialization of our ports by categories of goods,” he indicated, specifying that the goal is to decongest the ports as much as possible.
“A question discussed on Sunday in a select committee with the general directors of the ports,” said this official, who noted the fact that this idea is taking shape, citing the specialization of the port of Béjaïa in certain activities and also the orientation of that of Ténès towards cement activities to ensure the export of these products.
The official also mentioned the problem of port congestion, affirming that the issue was discussed during the meeting with general directors of ports, pointing out the consequences of this situation on the national economy, due to the losses caused.
“We have experienced significant congestion at our ports. The peak was recorded in October 2023, with an occupancy rate of 83%,” reported Mr. Dridi, who announced the establishment of an interministerial committee chaired by the Minister of Transport to to alleviate this situation which is detrimental to the national economy.
Several actions have since been carried out to achieve a regression of 53% in March 2024. Instructions were given, through the SERPORT group (port services group), to remedy this situation, according to the details of the speaker, who noted collaboration with the various stakeholders at the port level, like the Customs services. Another peak in the harbor was also recorded before Ramadan, due to the various meat import operations to guarantee market supplies.
Noting the contribution of the digital port management platform, the SG of the Ministry of Transport reported stranded waiting times at the ports. “Our containers last 14 days. Which is not normal,” he said, pointing out in this sense the digitalization actions undertaken to facilitate procedures and thus reduce these delays to 24 hours. Something already achieved, according to Mr. Dridi, who shows the ambition to move towards a waiting time of less than 24 hours, affirming that the port platforms are managed on time. A review of the regulations is also recommended by this official.
“We are obliged to adjust the texts to respect unloading deadlines and process our ships,” he indicated.
Mr. Dridi indicated that the instruction of the President of the Republic, given during the Council of Ministers and concerning the management of ports, is clear. He affirmed that the Department of Transport will ensure that this instruction is carried out as soon as possible.
The President of the Republic has in fact instructed the government to design a comprehensive approach for a new port management strategy to be submitted to the Council of Ministers as soon as possible.
Regarding the measures taken to reduce port passage times for imported goods, the President of the Republic ordered the Minister of Transport “to redouble vigilance and caution in the face of all forms of manipulation, in particular the policy of procrastination , with regard to the control of containers”, insisting on compliance with unloading deadlines by strengthening capacities and control systems, capable of freeing up space at dry ports, we read in the Council press release. ministers.
The President of the Republic ordered the establishment of a coordination mechanism to manage the pressure resulting from stranded waiting times at ports, so as to reduce them to a maximum duration of 24 hours, ordering to reduce pressure on the port of Algiers.