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Senate limits CPA wharfage fees
The Senate has limited the wharfage fees that the Commonwealth Ports Authority charges to cargo offloaded at a port or harbor in the CNMI, saying CPA should waive wharfage fees on cargo shipped from one Commonwealth island to another.
Senators took turns slamming CPA for imposing double wharfage fees for cargo from outside the CNMI that is destined for Rota and Tinian via Saipan.
Sen. Pete Reyes (Ind-Saipan) said these double charges, which end up being paid for by Rota and Tinian residents, are causing “extreme hardship.”
Reyes cited, for example, that bringing in a vehicle from Guam to Saipan costs only about $1,800.
“But if you bring that same car to Rota, from Guam via Saipan, the charge is $5,000 or more. This is ridiculous. That’s because it has to go to Saipan first, and that accounts for the excessive costs,” Reyes said.
Senators passed by a vote of 7-0 Sen. Frank Cruz’s (R-Tinian) Senate Bill 18-56 last week. The bill now goes to the House for action.
The Senate said the cost of commodities on Rota and Tinian is a great burden to consumers, and a portion of the added cost is a result of the wharfage fees that CPA imposes on commodities shipped from Saipan to Rota and Tinian.
The bill’s intent is to ensure that wharfage fees are charged “one time” for commodities that are offloaded at any port or harbor under CPA jurisdiction.
“The same commodities shall not be assessed wharfage a second time regardless whether the same cargo is shipped from Saipan to Rota and Tinian on a different vessel,” the bill says. It also waives wharfage fees assessed on cargo shipped to and from any CNMI port or harbor.
Senate Vice President Victor Hocog (R-Rota) said while he understands CPA also has to charge fees to service its debt payments, those charges shouldn’t be causing extreme hardship to residents.
“These are basically double charges…If they already charge wharfage fee for cargo from outside the CNMI to Saipan, why do they have to charge another wharfage fee if that cargo’s final destination is Rota or Tinian?” he asked.
