Business lost P70B in ’14 due to port congestion

LOCAL businesses may have lost as much as P70 billion last year when the Port of Manila suffered congestion problems.

The port congestion woes adversely affected the growth not only of the companies operating in the country, but also the economy as a whole, the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) said on Saturday.

The PCCI membership expressed fears of a possible repeat of the port congestion problem that was experienced in 2014 if no new roads would be built in the medium term, PCCI president Alfredo M. Yao said in a July 9 letter to Toll Regulatory Board executive director Edmundo O. Reyes Jr.

In the same letter, Yao said the port problem last year resulted in business losses amounting to P70 billion.

“From our point of view, the so-called port congestion is only the result of the real problem of road congestion. Almost half of the number of delivery trucks from the Port of Manila would drive up to the proposed elevated link to Stage 3 and benefit from the drastically reduced travel time to their destinations outside Metro Manila,” Yao said.

This is why the PCCI has thrown its full support behind a proposed elevated expressway project, which is hoped to help ease Manila port congestion and, in turn, help spare consumers, exporters and importers from high costs of deliveries.

Yao was referring to the Skyway Stage 3 project, which would link the North and South Luzon expressways from Buendia in Makati to Balintawak in Caloocan City.

The proposed expressway would give 24/7 access to trucks and other vehicles traveling along the stretch of North Boulevard and R-10 to the Skyway Stage 3 project. Traffic volumes on the ground streets of Metro Manila, even during non-truck ban hours, would be cut by almost half, he added.

“Continuity of business is key to the PCCI. By accelerating the movement of raw materials and finished goods to and from the ports, we are certain that this proposed project would increase productivity and propel the growth of our economy,” Yao said.

The PCCI chief is also hopeful that the TRB would approve early the implementation of the elevated expressway project.