Efforts are underway to shorten the period of free storage for goods at the port to five days and to shorten the storage period for reefer containers containing cold goods to seven days.
Maldives Ports Limited (MPL) CEO Mohamed Wajeeh Ibrahim has announced plans to shorten the period of free storage for goods at the Male' Commercial Harbor.
Currently, businesses can store their goods free of charge for 10 days after the container is placed at the harbour.
However, due to the overwhelming number of containers with over 5,000 being stored despite a capacity for about 2,000, this period will be reduced to five days to encourage timely clearance of goods, he said.
Additionally, the storage period for reefer containers containing cold goods will be limited to seven days.
Wajeeh said that ships often have to wait to unload due to space constraints at the port, and these changes aim to expedite cargo clearance.
To further address these issues, the government is working on developing the area to relocate the commercial harbor to Thilafushi.
This project involves reclaiming about 100 hectares of land, with 20 hectares already reclaimed by the previous government for MPL purposes.
The new plan allocates this reclaimed land for harbor services, with an additional 80 hectares planned for future reclamation.
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