PPA stops plan to use CCP as container yard

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Ports Authority has put on hold plans to put empty shipping containers at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) complex, PPA general manager Juan Sta. Ana said yesterday.

He said there are many restrictions to using CCP as a temporary container yard and they are looking for space at the Manila International Container Port (MICP) instead.  

Sta. Ana said while they planned to lease 10 hectares at the CCP complex, they could only use six hectares since the other four hectares are on soft ground. He added that the area can only hold 25,000 twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEUs) of ship containers and stack them only two levels high.

He also said they would only be allowed to move shipping containers between midnight and 5 a.m. 

Port operators Asian Terminals Inc. (ATI) for the Port of Manila and the International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) for MICP would shoulder P6 million monthly rent for the CCP space.

The PPA’s first choice is Berth 7 at the MICP, which could carry 20,000 TEUs once it is developed. Sta. Ana said 50 percent of the area could already be utilized, adding that they could fill up the space with as many as TEUs and stack the containers five levels high.

He also said there are no restrictions on the time they could move the containers.

The PPA has been implementing solutions on how to hasten the decongestion of the two ports that have been blamed for the heavy traffic and the rise in the prices of commodities.