Cargo handling firm sues Cebu port agency

CEBU — The Oriental Port and Allied Services Corp. (Opascor) has sued the Cebu Port Authority (CPA) for injunction and damages amounting to P2.5 million.

In its complaint against CPA and its general manager, Jose Antonio Elumir, Opascor raised the issue of the non-renewal of its cargo handling contract at the Cebu International Port.

Opascor said it asked the CPA on June 17 and Aug. 9 last year and last June 1 to consider the renewal of its contract, but this was turned down.

Opascor president and general manager Benjamin Akol accused the CPA and Elumir of not adhering to Resolution 1167 of the Philippine Ports Authority, which provides that Opascor’s contract is not subject to open competition.

Akol said that when port workers acquired the state-owned National Lighterage and Stevedoring Corp., which later became Opascor, the government, through the PPA, provided for the firm’s exclusive right to operate at the Cebu International Port.

To that effect, Opascor was granted on Jan. 9, 1990 a 10-year contract which will expire in January next year.

As a result of the contract, Opascor invested heavily in acquiring modern equipment to upgrade its cargo handling service at the port. — Freeman News Service