DASPA CEO wants telephone numbers placed on relief barrels and packages to help identification

​DASPA CEO Benoit Bardouille wants telephone numbers placed on relief barrels and packages shipped to Dominica, to help identification and facilitate speedy movement out of the port compound. Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, he noted that there has been an increase in containers at the Woodbridge Bay Port, and storage is a major problem.
 
He said, “When compared to previous years, the number of containers has increased drastically over the last three months by some 60%. The sheer volume of increased cargo arriving in consolidated containers or lesser container loads have increased considerably, because of the relief items being sent to families, friends, and individuals as a result of Hurricane Maria.”
 
He said the port is constrained by space, and he is calling on consignees, or those receiving packages, to visit their agent representatives for agent release forms, so as to be able to clear the cargo from the port.
 
Bardouille stated that there is a problem in reaching people who have to collect cargo at the port. He said, “There is difficulty reaching some people because we have no telephone numbers for them. The agents have telephone numbers for some persons, but those telephone numbers are often not reachable. We ourselves try to call some of those persons, but the telecommunication system is not fully restored at present, fixed lines are not functional, and some of these cell phones do not operate in certain locations”.
 
Bardouille insists that people must now include a telephone number on the barrels and other packages that they are sending to Dominica.