Karachi:
At the Karachi International Container Terminal (KICT), serious delays in the landing of containers – now taking five to six days instead of the standard 24 hours – have seriously disrupted customs clearance and the delivery of more than 450 import containers. These include sending industrial raw materials, cereals, fabrics and other essential products. The continuous backwards creates significant bottlenecks in the supply chain and increases import -related expenses.
The president of the All Pakistan Custom Association agents, Arshad Khurshid, said that repeated written reminders sent to Kict Management had not produced significant improvements. He identified terminal congestion and operational mismanagement such as the deep causes of delays. “When a container must wait five or six days just for the customs exam, the entire customs clearance system begins to collapse,” he said.
Consequently, importers are now struggling with millions of rupees in accusations of overestrable and avoidable detention. Khurshid also noted that delays persist even after the customs clearance, with containers often kept for two to three additional days for padding and final delivery.
He also underlined bad sequencing and manipulation after setting up containers. In some cases, importers are forced to organize double deliveries due to poor management of the terminal.
Khurshid called on Kict’s management to finish containers’ land within 24 hours, to guarantee delivery after accounting and to rationalize the processes of designs, examination and compensation.
