Scanned Access

Jan 31, 2012 (LBO) - Sri Lanka Ports Authority plans to install bar code readers at Colombo port to speed up the movement of vehicles moving containers, a senior official said. Truckers have complained of lengthy waiting times of sometimes 6-8 hours to get in or out of the port.

The existing gate pass system that involves getting physical clearances leads to long queues of trucks at port entrances and lengthy waiting times to clear cargo, SLPA chairman Priyath Wickrama said.

"We're going to introduce a modification to the gate pass system," he told a forum organised by the Sri Lanka Shippers' Council.

"We're going to have bar code readers at the gates.

If not, you have to enter everything at the gates and that leads to big queues.

To avoid it, we're going to use bar code readers."