Minister addresses perishable food delivery concerns

FRIDAY, AUGUST 12: Minister Kim Wilson said today the Oleander is the only ship which will arrive during a time when the dockworkers overtime ban is in effect.

Ms Wilson, the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, said she wants to alleviate public concerns regarding the timely delivery of goods and produce.

Minister Wilson said: “A Labour Relations Officer will mediate this issue and liaise with the relevant parties with a view to seeking a solution to the matter.

“In the event that a settlement is not reached via mediation, as Minister, I will refer this matter to Arbitration.

“However, I must take this opportunity to address public concerns regarding the timely delivery of perishable and non-perishable goods.

“There seems to be some unease in the community that the delivery of goods will be severely hindered due to the industrial action.

“It should be clearly pointed out that the overtime ban which has been instituted applies to the hours of 5:30pm to 10pm and on Sundays.

“As it relates to the delivery of produce — I have been advised that currently we have one container ship that comes in outside of regular weekday hours, and that is the Oleander, which typically arrives on Sundays.

“Ideally the preference is to unload the ship on Sunday when it arrives. However with the current overtime ban, it means that the Oleander will now be unloaded on Monday, and the produce will likely make it to the shelves a few hours later than normal.

“I think an important note for the public to understand is that current container loads are down, and thus reduced container loads, have resulted in reduced unloading times.