New protocols at Inter-island dock ease traffic and expedite cargo transfers

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — The new set up put in place by Port Administration (PA) at the Inter-Island dock last Thursday, at the terminal building, when the Lady Naomi arrived from Samoa last surprised many people, while others were very pleased and satisfied with the new protocols.

The Polynesia Shipping Company, the local agent for the Lady Naomi assisted the PA with the new set up and they also announced the new protocols on local radio last week before the vessel from Samoa arrived.

The usual scene at the terminal building every time Lady Naomi arrives from Samoa involves not only over crowding, with people shoving and pushing to get to the front, but there is also no compliance with the COVID-19 restrictions of 6 ft social distancing and wearing masks.

Here is the usual scene  at the Lady Naomi terminal building before the change where people and cargo crowded inside the building and no social distancing is observed at any time. [photo by AF]

It changed last Thursday.

Chairs were set up 6 ft apart in the terminal building and members of the public got in line and were served on a ‘first come, first serve’ basis.

A senior employee of the PA at the Lady Naomi wharf explained to Samoa News that the purpose of the new set up is an effort to get everything under control and to avoid the usual situation of traffic on the main road, and to avoid the overcrowding and long wait at the dock.

The senior official explained that those picking up cargo were given a designated time to be at the dock, while those sending cargo were relegated to the latter part of the day.

“Every time the vessel arrives from Samoa, it takes almost the whole day to clear the cargo from Samoa, but today (last Thursday), it took only a few hours to clear the light cargo the vessel brought and now we know that the new set up works,” the senior official said.

One of the big factors for the quick service was the effort by the PA security. They make sure everyone who came to the terminal building was in compliance with all the instructions.

A couple who turned up at the dock to pick up their cargo from Samoa were very pleased with the changes.

“This is very professional and the way things were set up today (last Thursday) was absolutely the right thing to do. We need people who can control the community because not everyone wants to use her or his common sense when it comes to a public area like this. Everyone wants to be first in the line, but with the help from the PA staff and security, everything is under control and we’re so thankful for the new idea,” the couple said.

A businessman who picks up his cargo from Samoa everytime the vessel arrives said that the new system makes things much easier than before.

“Before this new set up, I spent over 4 hours on the dock trying to release my cargo, but today, it only took me an hour to prepare the paperwork and release my cargo and this is very good,” he said.