Previous Story
Wharfage fee exemptions OK’d
|
Posted on May 15 2004
The Commonwealth Ports Authority approved Friday to exempt Rota and Tinian government-to-government cargoes from paying the wharfage fee.
In a resolution, the CPA board of directors approved to grant wharfage exemptions to cargoes by the Rota and Tinian municipal governments and those that are emergency in nature.
The selective wharfage exemption was in response to request for help by the Rota and Tinian local municipalities.
The resolution hopes to provide relief to the two local governments when they need to ship cargoes from the Saipan Seaport to their seaports. The measure was to exempt them from paying wharfage fees at the Port of Saipan.
“This unlimited exemption would be provided to Tinian and Rota on an emergency basis and on government-to-government type of cargo. When they need to ship some cargoes out of Saipan then we would provide them this exemption,” said CPA executive director Carlos H. Salas during the board meeting yesterday morning.
In recent months, the two islands have been requesting for a break on the wharfage fee due to continued slowdown of seaport activities in their respective islands.
For the first seven months of the fiscal year 2005, the CPA Seaport Division had recorded a 2-percent increase in revenue while operational expenses decreased by 9 percent due to reduction in salaries and benefit expenses.
Despite the continued increase in harbor revenue, Salas urged the Seaport Division to continuously look into other possible non-harbor revenue sources. The ports authority is focused at diversifying its non-port tariff revenue to help the seaport division.
CPA officials are also reviewing alternatives to raise its revenue generating capacity by embarking on other projects.
