Positive story # 17


The Fate of 550 Shipments


It was Thursday 20/07/2006, when I reported in the morning at office I got informed that last night material which arrived on Pk 213 from Pakistan was Held by Dnata & Ministry of information at Express Mail Center (EMC) in Dubai cargo village. It was carrying total 551 shipments. Among these bags there was a shipment which was alerted on Airline way bill as �Diplomatic shipment�.(SWISS AIR DUBAI) As per the procedure of Dnata handling if any shipment alerted as Diplomatic on the Airline way bill it should be cleared through Consulate authority only. Since Airline Airway bill typed as Diplomatic shipment they treated all shipments as diplomatic. Because of this one shipment all our 550 shipment were kept on hold at EMC in which it�s having transit and local shipments. I took Xavier Alphonso with me towards EMC, There at EMC Mureed Abbas tried his best to clear the shipment in the night but in vain. After analyzing the situation I Send Alfonso to Ministry of Information in cargo village for the getting the detail for clearing our material and I moved to customs office for screening the Diplomatic Shipment, It was clear from Customs and got the stamped on Airline Airway bill by One of Customs Officer (Hussain Hamadi ) who is very co operative and supportive person at Dubai Customs. Situation become worse when Ministry of Information refused to released the shipments, for clearance they need either consignee or Argentina embassy official. Consignee (Swiss Air) refused to accept the shipment as they haven�t received any information regarding this shipment. Argentina Embassy closed on Thursday. We do not have any other option except to wait till Saturday, But what about other 550 shipments, These shipments senders and receivers were suffering without any fault, My mind started thinking what will happen if it wont cleared today, what will be the fate of these shipments, are they going to get it clear today or not????,

Several thoughts were coming to me like phone lines were ringing at office here in Dubai as well as in Pakistan, And all staff were helpless as customer were not ready to hear anything except their shipment delivery. Then I took the decision that what ever the consequence comes I�ll face it but today I�ll make it release all these shipments, I was also getting calls from Ronald Alfred and other member of TCS Pakistan for knowing the status of all hold shipments. I assured them that we�ll try our best to clear the shipments, Again I went to Ministry of Information office and requested him to release our express shipments and keep hold Diplomatic shipment with you, He refused by saying � I cant do anything for you, You have to wait till Saturday, Here in UAE Ministries closed on Thursday and Friday. I requested him to provide the mobile or any point of contact to speak to higher authority, But he denied. Then again I moved to Customs officers room and said� I can�t hold all of these 550 shipments. I have to move these shipments at any cost� On hearing my pledge He issued the gate pass for local deliveries, Later I submitted Manifest for all on forwarding shipments to customs office. After having the gate pass immediately we all loaded the local shipments in vehicle and moved to Main office and distributed the shipments for deliveries, All shipment were got delivered well in time and we haven�t received any query for late delivery. UK line haul shipments got connected with Emirates flight by Mureed Abbas in Afternoon flight and remaining shipments processed and handed over to DHL. Then I called up Ronald Alfred and updated the status, He was eagerly waiting for my positive call, when he heard the news he was very much exited and end the call with thanks. After one week that Diplomatic shipment got delivered back to Origin, thanks to all who got involved in this process especially Xavier Alfonso, Syed Pasha & Mureed Abbas who supported and co operated during the processing.


Mohammed Ayub Ali
Team leader Operations