A concerted effort will be made to resolve container handling delays at ports in Yangon within three weeks, Commerce Minister Dr Than Myint said last week, according to state-run media.
The delays had occurred since the end of the Thingyan water festival, Than Myint said after attending a meeting of the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry.
The ministry, Myanmar Port Authority and the Customs Department would cooperate to address the delays, the Global New Light of Myanmar quoted him as saying.
The daily said 12 vessels carrying more than 10,000 containers had arrived in Yangon during Thingyan, when most the country shuts down for the traditional new year festival.
It quoted industry sources as saying delays in container handling operations had occurred at Yangon ports since 2008. They blamed the delays on narrow harbours for unloading containers from ships and a lack of 24-hour management at ports.
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The report quoted a container mover, Ko Nyi Nyi, as saying it took three days to clear a container because only three X-ray cargo scanners were operating at Myanmar Industrial Port.
The sources said an automated cargo clearing system being provided by the Japanese government was expected to go into operation at the end of the year.
