THE company in charge of operations at Mina Salman port yesterday pledged to completely eliminate delays following complaints from businessmen.

APM Terminals took charge of the facility last month along with the upcoming Shaikh Khalifa bin Salman Port, in what was considered to be the largest privatisation project in Bahrain’s history.

But businessmen swiftly urged Customs and ports authorities to cut red tape and streamline measures at the port, after encountering a series of hold-ups.

More than 200 lorries were waiting in queues because of an average delay of four hours in clearance procedures, Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) board member Abdulhakim Ibrahim Al Shammari said in mid-December.

Some merchants also claimed the delays were pushing up the cost of consumer goods, although this was rejected by APM officials.

The head of Customs, Ports and Freezone Affairs Shaikh Daij bin Salman Al Khalifa yesterday led a delegation of senior officials to the Mina Salman port to observe procedures at the facility.

Director-general of Freezone Affairs Ebrahim Hassan Salman Al Hassar, APM Terminals general manager of sales and marketing Iain Rawlinson and head of public relations and client services at the General Organisation of Seaports Wael Mirza were among those present.

APM Terminals managing director Jorgen Madsen said measures had been taken to tackle the problem and these were already having an effect.

He revealed the time taken to enter port and pick up a container has reduced from around 2.5 hours to 1.5 hours since the beginning of the month.

“I think everyone in this port deserves a lot of praise,” he said.

“They are working hard to put in extra hours to try and minimise delays.

“There should be no undue waiting time and we will accomplish that judging by the trend we are experiencing.

“It is going to happen in a phased manner.”

He believes the zero delay target could be achieved by April and believes much of the criticism has been unjustified.

“A lot of the criticism has been of a general nature,” he said.

“We welcome criticism and suggestions but it has to be specific so we can deal with it.

“We know there have been problem areas and we keep a helpdesk available for any specific complaint.”

Mr Madsen added that as a goodwill gesture for the next two weeks the free storage time allowed for containers in the port would be extended by 48 hours to 12 days.

Shaikh Daij said he was happy with the process of the privatisation of the port and expressed his appreciation to APM Terminals for turning the situation around.

“There may be a small delay in the delivery of containers but it is very small and what has been published in the Press recently has been really magnified,” he told the GDN.

“Things are moving very smoothly, there is no major problem.

“Things are getting better and the company is trying its utmost to hire new recruits.”

The port helpline is available on 17365559 seven days a week and calls will automatically be diverted to mobiles outside of office hours.