Customs strike and its impact
Mohammed Aleba, a 70-year-old driver from Badulla, spent three days in his lorry during recent trade union action by Customs officers, to make sure nobody dismantled its parts.
Mr Aleba couldn’t return home empty-handed. The fuel for a return trip costs around Rs 25,000. And if he didn’t go back to Badulla loaded with goods as he usually did, he would not earn enough for his family of seven.
But the work-to-rule by Customs officers, compounded on Tuesday by a hartal by importers and wholesale merchants in Pettah, meant that, while some items such as perishables were available, the broad mix of products Mr Aleba usually took with him to Badulla was not. So he slept three nights in his vehicle, parked on Fifth Cross Street, swatting at mosquitoes and spending over Rs 1,000 on meals.
Five unions--the Customs Staff Officers’ Union, Superintendents of Customs Union, the Customs Officers’ Union, the Customs Inspectors’ Union and the Guards’ Union--carried out the work-to-rule which started on January 30 and ended on February 5. They were protesting against Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera’s removal of Director General of Customs P. S. M. Charles. She was subsequently reinstated.
The work slowdown hit many across the board. On Tuesday, the day of the hartal, Pettah was deserted. Pigeons strutted along Fourth Cross Street. Porters idled on pavements awaiting the arrival of containers. Others played cricket. They had less work as fewer containers were coming in.
Nihal Nishan, a porter, felt wholesalers had no right to close their shops. The issue of contention was between Customs and the Finance Minister. It should have been sorted by them, he said. The porters, who were dependent on daily wages, were badly affected.
“We have no unions,” Mr Nishan said. “They don’t allow us to form any. What we earn is dependent on the quantity of goods we haul. I can’t even borrow because the capital and interest then comes out of our daily wage.”
Mohammed R Muzammil, 48, from Kandy has been a porter on Fourth Cross Street for nearly three decades. “I borrowed Rs 3,000 yesterday at 20 percent interest rate,” he said. “If I don’t get work by tomorrow, I can’t repay it or send money to my family.”
Politicians, officials and traders had good incomes or a monthly wage. Porters like him lived from day to day. “This is their problem,” he said. “Why are we being punished? They earn millions off our backs. But we are waiting in the streets like beggars today.”
Like Mr Aleba, many other drivers were sleeping in heavy vehicles on Fifth Cross Street. There was no shade to park under. Mohammed Buhari Rizwani, 25, from Batticaloa was among them. He said he hadn’t known the wholesale market would shut down in support of Customs unions.
The Rank Container Terminal at Orugodawatte and the one inside the Port were crammed with cargo loads that were overdue for clearance. Even after trade union action was called off, they were struggling to clear consignments for importers, said K P Saman Priyantha, wharf manager of a private company.
“Importers have to pay demurrages for cargo and re-ship food items back to the countries of origin if found unsuitable for consumption, he explained.
“When the officers went on a work-to-rule, container drivers could not clear things and move them out from the Rank Container Terminal. So there is a long line waiting to move towards the examination bay.” Mr Priyantha said they paid container owners R 3,000 per days as they were held up at the Customs terminals.
Shop owners grumbled because Customs released mostly perishable items during the work-to-rule. P Madawaraj, a wholesale merchant, said first there was a goods shortage. “But now that the union action is over, all the consignments will get cleared at once,” he said. “There will be several containers of dried fish, and sprats and even more containers of potatoes and onion. How do I stock them?”
The only option, Mr Madawaraj said, was to sell his wares at lower prices to clear the backlog or he would have to pay even more for his held-up goods.
Minister Samaraweera was strongly criticized by lawyer and public interest litigant Nagananda Kodituwakku, who said he was responsible for billions of rupees in losses caused by the Customs action. Because of his removal of Mrs Charles, importers paid demurrages to companies and sustained other losses. The Customs’ unions got their demand, but others suffered heavily.
Mr Kodituwakku said the Minister should not expect importers and businessmen to meet the cost of heavy demurrages or the re-export of goods that became unsuitable for consumption owing to his actions.
Mrs Charles has instructed her officers to work around the clock to clear the backlog. The situation should return to normal by Monday, a senior Customs official said.