Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is a joint venture between the states of New York and New Jersey established in 1921 through an an interstate bi agency compact. The Port of New York is the main gateway of the Eastern Seaboard of North America and its hinterland accessing the resource laden regions of the US heartland through the Erie Canal which initially was a precursor for inland freight transportation. As New York harbor and the lower Hudson River are the boundaries between New York and New Jersey states port development took place under different jurisdictions.
This maritime development resulted in conflicts between the two states regarding jurisdictional matters pertaining to harbor facilities along the Hudson River.Over the course of time as trade volumes enhanced interstate conflicts consistently arose over the issue of rail freight rates . Barge transfers of cargoes across the Hudson also led to severe traffic congestion in the harbor. Almost 70 years ago the state of New Jersey petitioned the Interstate Commerce Commission to lower rail freight rates on its side of the Hudson in order to attract more port calls but was overruled on the ground that the whole region was one functioning harbor. To settle such disputes once and for all The Port of New York Authority was established in the year 1921 .
Credit ; Nash Vile
Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor
The Port of New York and New Jersey is the busiest container port on the Eastern Seaboard of the United States with the Hudson River forming a natural boundary between the two states for almost 34 km. The Waterfront Commission was pivotal to launching of successful prosecutions against organised crime in and around local ports as well as to ensuring fair employment. The Waterfront Commission was created in 1953 when organized crime had infiltrated the port and was extorting workers and shippers alike.
Credit;Hudson River Anchorages
Trade Dynamics at New Jersey Side of Harbour
The state of New Jersey had been asserting that cargo volume over the years had shifted from the New York side of the port to its jurisdiction warranting efficacious regulation of port activity. New Jersey lawmakers advocated that changes in the maritime industry trends particularly development of container shipping in fact curbed the influence of organized crime at the port which in turn made the Waterfront Commission redundant in its present form. The legislators went so far as to announce that the Waterfront Commission is now an impediment to economic growth.
Credit; CBS-News
New Commission of Port of New York
Subsequently a new Commission of Port of New York has been created after the state of New Jersey withdrew from the bi agency compact. The approval of the new commission marks a critical step in protecting the Port of New York from the infiltration of organized crime to the advantage of longshoremen, shipping industry and importers and end consumers as well. The commission is mandated to conduct background checks and issue licenses to individuals and companies engaged in the shipping industry in the Port of New York. Already criticism is rampant that concessions had been made to satisfy the International Longshoremen’s Association requiring the committee to work with employers and unions in reviewing regulations which may be seen as a conflict of interests. At the same time dock workers who associate with known criminals without unlawful intent cannot be proceeded against and suspended. The New York state’s $237 billion budget included a $5 million appropriation to create and fund the New York Waterfront Commission.
Supreme Court Ruling on Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor
The United States of America Supreme Court recently ruled that the state of New Jersey can validly severe its 70-Year Anti-Crime Pact with the state of New York to keep organised crime at bay .The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that “ New Jersey can unilaterally withdraw from the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor, which was formed by a bistate compact in 1953 to prevent New Jersey from dissolving the shipping industry-funded commission.The States did not intend for the agreement to be perpetual, it would not make much sense to conclude that each State implicitly conferred on the other a perpetual veto of withdrawal . For decades the Waterfront Commission has been a vital law enforcement agency, protecting essential industries at the port and cracking down on organised crime”.
Police and Law Enforcement
The Governor of New Jersey withdrew the state’s sole commissioner and assigned the state police to assume the agency’s law enforcement duties on New Jersey’s side of the harbor .The bulk of the cargo arriving in the harbor goes to ports in Newark and Elizabeth, N.J. The terminal operators there pay fees that cover most of the commission’s budget. The shipping association threatened that it would stop making those payments but it did not carry out on its threat.
Australia Maritime Union Protests Ceding of Economic Sovereignty
Not to be outdone the Maritime Union of Australia went on a strike against a foreign overseas company operating Australian ports .The Maritime Union of Australia and workers at the 4 Dubai Ports World terminals (DP World) are resisting automation of Australian container terminals, said to be at the expense of hundreds of ” wharfies ” jobs and a debate on productivity challenges has erupted at policy level. It is being advocated by the Maritime Union that the DP World Automation plans will sink waterfront activity.
Credit;Maritime Union of Australia
Further DP Worlds , an overseas concern, automation project may retard Australian waterfront productivity, enhance pressure on Australian supply chains resulting in port blockages and negatively impact trucking companies . Australia is a seafaring nation and port infrastructure is integrated into Australian daily life. The DP World digitisation endeavour has resulted in enhancement of its landside charges and trucking access charges in anticipation of a project that will slow throughputs and further crunch Australia’s domestic transport sector. The Dubai Ports stance is that its automation endeavour will eliminate labour costs while Dubai World is rumoured to make $ 50 billion in profits alone. In Australia, as in other countries , these profits are shipped offshore to overseas shareholders and the Dubai Royal family. In a sinister fashion DP World expertly minimises its tax obligations , instead the wharf workers who contribute to theAustralian treasury through salary taxes are being sidelined. Dubai Ports pays negligible tax in Australia .In a suave move DP World concluded the Enterprise Agreement negotiations removing any capacity for the maritime workforce to exercise any rights during bargaining . The Maritime Union’s consistent position is that automation and artificial intelligence (AI) should only be introduced by agreement and where it has a significant community benefit. It may be suitable for countries with negative birth rates like Japan and South Korea and the Scandinavian countries. This is a prime case of ceding of economic and commercial sovereignty.
Land Mafia at Seaports of Pakistan
As reported in Dawn newspaper the Chief Justice of Supreme Court of Pakistan Mr Qazi Faez Isa is to hear a petition of former Karachi Nazim (Mayor ) Naimatullah Khan filed in the year 2010, seeking the Supreme Court’s intervention to get the amenity plots vacated from “land mafia ” in the port city and also related cases regarding encroachments on port estate and public spaces. Notices have been issued to the Sindh Provincial Chief Minister, Officials of Cantonment Boards, Karachi Port Trust and Sindh Building Control Authority. Port Qasim Authority and Karachi Port Trust has to defend its Estate from Land Mafia and Encroachers . Port Qasim is located far from the city center hence escapes oversight and scrutiny of its controlling ministry. Perhaps the maritime policy makers need to consider establishing a Waterfront Commission , as per New Jersey model, which played a critical role in prosecuting organised crime at local ports and ensuring fair labor practices and efficacious handling of port bulk cargoes and increased turnaround pace of containers. Otherwise port security and the national energy and food security may be compromised and criminal elements may prevail at the seaports of Pakistan as happened at New Jersey ports. The areas earmarked for Exclusive Economic Zones at ports are steadily being encroached by the land Mafias and the encroachments have to be rolled back by concerted enforcement and legal actions in order to survive as a sovereign maritime state.
Author ; Nadir Mumtaz
Trademark Blue Economy IPO-PK
Sources/ Credit ;
https://nypost.com/2024/04/21/opinion/gov-hochuls-waterfront-commission-is-a-win-for-new-yorkers/
https://nashvillenow.us/setup/tic2775k1d53/
https://transportgeography.org/contents/applications/port-authority-new-york-new-jersey/
https://www.dawn.com/news/1829235
https://www.mua.org.au/news/dp-world-automation-and-ai-will-sink-waterfront-productivity
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