The Ceylon Motor Traders’ Association (CMTA) has decided to shun the Hambantota port to have their newly imported vehicles cleared, Chairman of the association Tilak Gunasekara said. The government last week announced that all vessels carrying motor vehicles would berth at Hambantota for clearance end May, this year.
“We are not going to use the Hambantota Port, as it would increase logistical costs heavily due to poor infrastructure facilities,” Gunasekara claimed. He further explained that collectively, dealers of brand new cars presently import around 5,000 to 6,000 vehicles at a time and have only three car carriers where each one can accommodate around eight vehicles at a time.
He noted that the directive by the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) to route carriers to Hambantota port was optional and not mandatory. Therefore, any importer of vehicles would have the choice between the two ports. When asked whether importers of brand new vehicles are attracted by the concessions offered by the SLPA such as the 20% waiver of tariff, he replied in the negative saying that the promised concessions would not be significant, as they would be on SLPA charges and not on the excise duty.
“Unlike used car importers, we do not keep our vehicles longer than a couple of days and more often get them cleared within one day. Therefore, the seven day concessions too will not make any difference to us,” he added. He further noted that before implementing such a crucial decision, the authorities should have identified the response of the shipping companies in particular whether they prefer to use the sea routes including all the stakeholders, which he believes has not done conclusively.
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