The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Trade to seek legal remedy to end container terminal impasse

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jul 19, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Trade to seek legal remedy to end container terminal impasse

By N. Ravi Kumar

CHENNAI, JULY 18. Facing loss of reputation among clients and crores of rupees, the export-import trade using Chennai port's privatised container terminal is likely to seek legal remedy to end the current impasse in cargo movement.

Such a possibility, of the trade and industry approaching courts of law probably with a public interest litigation, looks imminent as the `go-slow' by non-management workers of the terminal and the strike by trailer operators dragged into the third full day on Sunday.

There was no movement of cargo boxes from and to the terminal and the situation threatens to affect the delivery schedule of exporters and raw material inventory of manufacturing units using imported components. The unloading and loading of the available containers to the vessels, however, was in progress, but at a relatively slow pace, said trade sources.

The container moves have dropped to around 12 an hour per gantry against the average 25 moves at the terminal in January. The loss for the exporters, they estimated, would be around Rs. 10 lakhs a day on each container. Usually, the terminal handles close to 800 import and 400 export boxes.

A legal remedy alone could restore normality, according to shipping industry sources, who pointed out that a consensus, on approaching the courts, was building up among the exim trade.

Its plea could be a direction to the Chennai Container Terminal Limited management to initiate measures for improving productivity facilitating smooth and faster movement of the cargo boxes. It could pray for a direction to the Chennai port to take over the terminal or seek a change in the terminal management.

Though not new, as the trade and industry had earlier considered approaching the courts when non-management workers of the terminal went on a strike from May 23 to June 3, the possibility looks distinct now as neither the Chennai Port Trust nor the Centre were likely to intervene. During the last strike, the ChPT held several rounds of meetings and the Union Shipping Minister, T.R. Baalu, urged the CCTL management to revoke the suspension of three workers.

But such initiatives were unlikely now as the Centre does not want to send wrong signals to foreign investors and the ChPT had little locus standi to intervene in what was an internal issue between the CCTL management, the workers and the trailer operators, said sources in ChPT.

Apart from seeking a legal recourse, the exim trade wants the Centre to speed up measures for setting up of a competing facility in either Chennai or Ennore ports. While the ChPT would be eligible as per the agreement with CCTL to establish a competing facility after November, the Ennore port was close to commissioning a feasibility study on setting up a terminal.

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