WHEN THE CONSORTIUM OF BUSInessmen Reghis Romero II and Manuel V. Pangilinan won the contract to operate and develop Manila North Harbor, the group knew modernizing the dilapidated port would be a huge undertaking.

Officials of Manila North Harbour Port Inc. (MNHPI), which won the 25-year contract to manage the port in November last year, were aware that they inherited a facility that had suffered from decades of neglect, making North Harbor the country?s ?busiest and most inefficient port.?

MNHPI promises to change this by spending P14 billion to develop North Harbor and improve its facilities. Bulk of this amount will be spent in the first six years of operation.

Outdated design

A quick tour of North Harbor shows just how much the country?s premiere cargo hub needs a makeover.

Designed before the Second World War, North Harbor was configured with eight ?finger? wharves where ships could load and unload cargo. This design was meant to increase the length of the waterfront to allow more ships to use the harbor at any given time.

But since the port was built, ships have grown drastically in size, and the amount of cargo they carry has dramatically increased, making the pre-war design inefficient for a port as crucial as North Harbor.

And without any major improvement in recent memory, North Harbor has turned into a disaster waiting to happen.

?If you look at the structures supporting the port, you?ll see that these can collapse any time,? Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) General Manager Oscar Sevilla said in an interview.

Precious little space

?We?ve wanted to modernize this for years through privatization, but there were always problems that kept us from doing so.?

Further exacerbating the problem, shipping lines both big and small have turned several key areas of the port into their own cargo parking bays, taking up precious space in an already tight setting.

Some places have also been used as dump sites for broken and unusable container vans which, in turn, have been converted into make-shift shelters and karaoke bars by illegal settlers.

?There?s nothing worse than North Harbor. All I want is an opportunity to change things there,? said Michael Romero, MNHPI president and CEO, in a recent interview.

The company?s plans include the construction of two modern passenger terminals, similar to ports in Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore and Indonesia. New fixed cranes will also be installed at the port to replace inefficient forklifts and other outdated equipment still being used.

?Total disarray?

Romero admits that taking over operations of the dilapidated port has not been easy as MNHPI inherits problems dating back to more than five decades.

But stakeholders at the port, which once supported the private consortium?s takeover, now appear to be resisting MNHPI.

In the past two weeks, ?total disarray characterized the operation of the North Harbor, with long queues, traffic congestion, delayed withdrawal of cargoes, delayed departure of vessels,? the Philippine Liner Shipping Association (PLSA) said in a recent statement.

As a result, ?perishable goods have gone to waste and passengers were left to wait long hours before boarding,? it added.

There are billions of pesos worth of goods on the line and shipping firms, truckers and cargo handlers are aware of this. Now, they are singling out MNHPI, accusing it of disrupting the flow of goods at the facility.

PLSA earlier asked the government and the Supreme Court to junk the modernization contract for North Harbor, citing negative economic impact arising from delays in the movement of cargo and passengers at the port?delays that are said to cost shipping companies millions of pesos.

The smoothest in years

The high court has deferred its ruling on the dispute and has ordered MNHPI and the PPA to file comments and explain why the controversial contract should not be scrapped.

PLSA also accused MNHPI of not having the proper equipment and know-how to properly run the port.

MNHPI officials have denied these claims, saying that the present movement of cargo and passengers at the North Harbor has been the smoothest in years.

Earlier, labor groups had also resisted the takeover, demanding payment for their past services. The groups took up their demand with the new management.

MNHPI responded by meeting their demand and absorbing all the workers at the port, making sure that no one would lose a job. The first labor group to sign an agreement with MNHPI was militant Kilusang Mayo Uno.

Also, MNHPI had plans to replace certain cargo handlers once it took control of the port.

On April 11, the day MNHPI assumed port operations, the cargo handlers that were supposed to be replaced set up barricades inside the facility to oppose the new operator?s entry.

After a violent encounter with the police, leading to the arrest of over 70 people, MNHPI was finally allowed to take over the aging port.

Boycott

The Philippine Liner Shipping Association has threatened to boycott North Harbor and take their business to nearby ports controlled by local port giant Asian Terminals Inc. (ATI)?MNHPI?s main rival for the North Harbor contract.

?These groups just don?t want progress,? MNHPI?s Romero said, dismissing PLSA?s claims.

According to Romero, the perceived delays in the movement of cargo are artificial, done precisely to project an image of ?chaos? at the port.

?They are bringing in their ships all at the same time. Under the rules of the Maritime Industry Authority, each ship is given only specific times when they can come in and use the ports,? he said.

PLSA members are now bringing in their ships at the same time, causing congestion at the port, he added.

Birth pains

Still confident, Romero brushed off the issues facing MNHPI.

?These are just birth pains. Of course, it?s understandable that there will be some resistance because they?ve enjoyed the status quo for decades. But we?re about the change everything,? Romero said.