MPL halves clearing period and reduces tariffs for Ramadan

Maldives Ports Limited (MPL) CEO Mohamed Wajeeh has said that commencing from March 11, for the month of Ramadan, the company will be speeding up its clearance process ensuring that imported goods are cleared at half the time it usually takes. The company is also going to reduce the tariffs it charges on food items.

In an interview with Mihaaru, Wajeeh said that the company always strives to speed up its services and to provide ways of clearing goods with increased convenience.

He emphasized that the government highly prioritizes bringing down the price of food during the month of Ramadan. Under this initiative, MPL will be deducting 10 percent from the clearance tariffs of all food items that are usually used during Ramadan, he said.

"We are willing to do that. We will especially decrease the charges on perishable food items," he said.

Wajeeh revealed that even today, MPL continues to take tariffs that were determined twelve years ago. His hope is that with the decrease in tariff this Ramadan, businesses will bring down the prices of food items in the market.

Wajeeh further said that work is in progress to remove the barge and speed boats docked at the port at MPL so as to facilitate them in speeding up their clearance periods in Ramadan.

"We have removed all our tug[boats], all our barges, all our launches from that area. We placed bouys at the area and shifted everything there. We did that and specialized this area to to provide services to ships coming from India," he said.

Previously, a maximum of two ships could dock at the port simultaneously. With the new changes, four ships can dock at the location and unload their goods. This would ensure the entire clearance work's speed becomes halved, Wajeeh assured.

He said that the clearance of the port would be completed by the end of this month, and that the decision is to permanently keep it that way in future.