MANAGEMENT of John Fernandes Shipping Company has advised that there is no need for consignees for whom barrels have been shipped through that company for the Christmas holidays to panic, if they have not yet received them. Assuring that customer-friendly systems have been put in place to ensure a high level of swiftness and efficiency, so far as processing and delivery of barrels to consignees is concerned, management has assured that barrels already offloaded from containers and lying in the warehouse can be in the hands of consignees well before Christmas.
In fact, Warehouse Manager Mark Archer is optimistic that the remaining ten containers or so of barrels, now on the wharves can be delivered by tomorrow, with a delivery rate of approximately 220 per day.
Archer made these statements, in response to concerns raised by some consignees yesterday, who claimed that they had been waiting at the warehouse for hours and could not receive their barrels.  This led to fears that they might not be able to receive them for the Christmas.
But Archer, speaking with the Guyana Chronicle, refuted such reports, claiming, that staff at the facility began working as early as 07:30hrs and worked throughout the day, and by 15:00hrs they had already dealt with more than 220 clients.
He further stated that management of John Fernandes has, of recent, been informing the public via the electronic media of the arrangement in place to facilitate uplifting of barrels and asking them to come in to uplift them.  On Mondays to Fridays they work until 20:00 hrs and on Saturdays until 16:00 hrs.
“In fact, even though we worked until 16:00 hrs on Saturday, the response was poor, and not many persons came to uplift barrels,” he said, lamenting that it would have been a waste of resources to the company, since staff has to be paid, among other things. He outlined that the service is merely a value-added one and not a profit-making facility.
Archer said such arrangements have been put in place, as the volume of containers entering the country at this time has increased significantly, compared to recent years.  The amount of barrels arriving in the country has now increased by some 60 percent over last year, for example, and containers are coming at a rate of about 30 per week.  He said there are approximately 26 shipping agents now using the John Fernandes facility to ship cargo.
Albeit, the manager explained that the huge crowd  awaiting service at the facility at this time is due to the fact, that in the aftermath of national elections, for whatever reasons, many persons failed to heed the call to uplift their barrels resulting in a build up. But now, with just a few days remaining before Christmas, and  relative calm pervading the environment, persons have suddenly proceeded on a ‘mad rush’ to get their barrels.  He is urging persons to cooperate, be calm, and understand that everyone can get his/her barrel before Christmas.
Apart from public announcements inviting clients to come and uplift their barrels, other systems were put in place to facilitate swift and efficient delivery, Archer said, including the beefing up of staff. The number of cashiers has been increased from one to two; while two other staff members have been deployed to offer customer assistance to clients, resulting in about 10 to 15 persons being dealt with at a time.
“What we want clients to know is that we will work as fast as we can to ensure that everyone gets through,” Archer assured.
Meanwhile, the Guyana Revenue Authority has contributed in a big way towards making it easier and less costly for persons receiving barrels containing personal effects. Commissioner General Kurshid Sattaur, in an interview with the Guyana Chronicle, said that the Authority has put systems in place for expediting the clearing and delivery of barrels with items that are not of a commercial nature, and categorized as CF3, as opposed to the CF2, which contain items of a commercial nature.
A CF3 barrel, the Commissioner General said, would no longer be searched, and could be cleared in as little as 10 minutes, based on the profile, and since it will be dealt with based on the information appearing on the manifest. Only on condition that the person/persons concerned with the barrel are deemed high risk would the intelligence officers proceed to search it.  Barrels are rated on the scale of ‘low, to medium, to high risk’.  The Commissioner said that the cost of clearing a CF3 barrel could be as low as $2,000 to $4,000.
He, however, warned that persons clearing commercial barrels, and making a false declaration, or deliberately attempting to mislead the customs officials into believing that the contents are CF3, will be severely penalized and will be targeted for scanning in future transactions.
The Guyana Revenue Authority has also beefed up its staff considerably, to expedite clearing of barrels, in some cases doubling manpower, the revenue chief said, adding, “We are working to ensure that everybody is satisfied and have a nice bright Christmas.”