DESPITE the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) imposed on the entire Cebu province, the Cebu Port Authority (CPA) assured the public that all port terminals in the province remain fully operational to ensure the continued flow of goods.
Leonilo Miole, CPA general manager, said that amid the threat posed by Covid-19 and the implementation of ECQ, CPA continues to man its ports to ensure the unhampered movement of cargos, basic and essential goods and other necessities.
He then asked all law enforcement officers to allow passage of all authorized CPA personnel and port workers in checkpoints and border controls to be able to report to their respective areas of assignment in CPA ports and offices scattered all over the entire province of Cebu.
“We hope that all law enforcement officers assigned at checkpoints or at border control would not prohibit the entry of CPA employees upon presentation of their CPA IDs and/or Certificate of Employment (COE) as these employees perform functions at the port that are essential to ensure the smooth flow of cargos,” said Miole.
Moreover, Miole said CPA has allocated berthing areas for vessels commissioned to transport medical supplies, equipment and health workers to facilitate fast movement and delivery to various healthcare facilities in the province.
CPA also announced that no additional port charges are imposed on the movement of cargos such as cargo handling, pilotage, terminal and miscellaneous charges and urged all port stakeholders to immediately report any violation.
While CPA is in the process of identifying its assets which may serve as quarantine centers, medical relief and aid distribution locations, or temporary medical facilities, it is already offering its social hall to be utilized as temporary living quarters for the health workers of Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC) who live far and have no place to stay in the city after owners of boarding houses refused to accept them. (WBS with PR)