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| Sunday, 13 February 2005 |
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Duty delays clearing by Anton Nonis There had been 360 flights to Sri Lanka upto last Friday from December 27, 2004 which ferried assistance for the tsunami victims, Airport & Aviation Manager, I.M Razeek said. They were from 61 donor countries. The flights included 43 military aircrafts while the rest were civilian aircrafts. There had been big cargo carriers from various countries including the U.S.A, Britain, Canada and Saudi Arabia. Unlike other days when there is sufficient time interval between flights, clearing planes during the tsunami had been a laborious task. Immediately following tsunami devastation the number of flights increased excessively. There had been 15 flights bringing relief on some days. This was in addition to the normal scheduled flights. The aircrafts were arriving at random and the ground had to be cleared soon for fresh landings. A plane had to be kept on air until the ground was clear for landing. Chief Air Traffic Controller, Mahes Silva said, it was a round-the-clock job, handling the landings and the take-offs. The aprons (parking spaces) had to be fully utilised for the unloading of goods. Out of 21 aprons, 19 had to be used while two were on repair. "Any delay in the unloading meant a delay in the whole process," Razeek said. The time taken for unloading varied. It mainly depended on the type of goods that were unloaded. It took longer, about six hours, if the goods were of bulk type. But container loads were cleared off in a relatively short time. Airport authorities were compelled to seek assistance from external sources. Sri Lanka Air Force, private contractors and Airport Emergency Team from Dubai were deployed to assist in the unloading. Over 14,000 metric tonnes of relief items including food, had been unloaded upto date according to sources. However, the frequency of flights with relief goods had dropped these days. Sources said that with a new regulation to impose duty on goods arriving, problems had arisen regarding clearing. Consignees show little interest in clearing and the goods tend to accumulate. "We are compelled to stack them outside the wearhouses due to lack of space," Razeek said. |
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