Grand Cape Mount Senator Simeon Taylor has frowned on what he termed as “unwarranted business practice” being orchestrated by APM Terminals Liberia which is causing business people serious embarrassment.
Senator Taylor in a communication to Plenary on Thursday, June 20, 2024, said APM Terminals Liberia has a period of five days given to consignees and other customers to clear their goods from the Freeport of Monrovia as of the effective date of the discharge of said goods from the vessel.
“At the elapse of the five days, all goods not cleared begin to accrue storage until clearance is done. What is more baffling and troubling is that during the period following the five days, APM Terminals Liberia includes national holidays and Sundays in counting of storage accumulation,” Senator Taylor said.
He said this action by the company is unjust, and to a larger extent, a ploy designed to rob citizens and other business people of thousands of dollars, terming same as a broad day robbery because the Sundays and national holidays are non-working days for APM Terminals.
“Additionally, APM Terminals is in the unfair practice of compelling her customers to pay extra costs that accumulate as a result of breakdown to their system. A case in point is June 3, 2024 when APM Terminals Liberia declared that their system was off. In the interim, the management opted to have her customers pay additional cost as a result of breakdown to their system. Similarly, consignees who delivery orders were to get expired on that day (June 3, 2024) could not get their goods cleared because of the very APM Terminals Liberia system’s breakdown,” he noted.
He further said it was reliably gathered that APM Terminals Liberia is in the business of increasing her handling charges by 10 to 15% every two years, without showing cause for said increment, stating this alleged unjustifiable 15% increment on the part of APM Terminals Liberia is one of the reasons for the continuous increase in the prices of goods and services on the market.
“In view of the above, I like to call on the Liberian Senate to summon the management of APM Terminals Liberia before this body to answer among many questions the following: why APM Terminals Liberia asking business people to pay storage fees for non-working days; why allegedly increasing handling charges by around 10 to 15% every two years; and why are they asking business people to pay storage accumulated as a result of system breakdown?,” he said.
A motion was filed by Montserrado County Senator Saah H. Joseph that the communication be sent to the Committee on Public Corporation to report next Thursday.
