Lagos – Maritime activities closed on Friday with the Shippers Association Lagos State (SALS) calling for better approach to port operations.
The President of the association, Mr Jonathan Nicol, stated this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.
Nicol said that corruption should be reduced to the barest minimum in line with President Muhammadu Buhari’s Change “Mantra’`.
He said that once there were honest approaches to cargo processing , there would be prosperity and government would get the estimated revenue from the maritime sector.
“We expect government to provide foreign exchange for shippers (importers and exporters) to enable us bring cargoes into the country.
“The new port order will be progressive if we comply with rules because all the problems at the ports are man-made problems and can be eradicated,’’ Nicol said.
In the week under review, the Nigeria Ship Owners Association (NISA) urged the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) to approve its age-long application for a national carrier status.
The President of the association, Capt. Niyi Labinjo, made the plea in an interview with NAN.
Labinjo explained that the association made the request for a license to float a mega shipping firm since 2011 but NIMASA had yet to give
approval till date.
He expressed regret that past ministers of transportation were not able to ensure that NIMASA approve the application.
According to him, Section 35 of the NIMASA Act 2007 said, “Any national shipping line in Nigeria that meets the conditions should be granted national carrier status.”
He said the national carrier status would fetch a lot of jobs for unemployed trained seafarers.
“ Foreign vessels are depriving Nigerians of employment and if the national carrier status is approved, it would stop capital fight and create a balance in maritime trade.
A Marine Engineer, Mr Olu Akinsoji, during the week, urged the Federal Government to properly align all government agencies in the maritime sector for adequate development of the sector.
Akinsoji, a former Government Inspector of Ships (GIS), told NAN that a change in the “poor’’ alignment of the agencies and other institutions in the maritime sector would ensure better service delivery.
The marine engineer urged the government to strictly monitor the expenditures of the various agencies to ensure their compliance with government’s budget implementation regime.
He commended the Federal Government for the “increased’’ budgetary allocation to the transportation sector in 2016.
The mariner said, “If the budget earmarked for the sector is well implemented, it would address the funding of projects in the sector and fast track its development’’.
NAN reports that the budgetary allocation to the Federal Ministry of Transportation was 215.8 billion in 2016.
NAN reports that in the 2015 Appropriation Act, the Transport and Aviation ministries got N11.98 billion and N2.14 billion respectively.
Also in the week under review, the Port Consultative Council (PCC) urged port operators to key into the newly- introduced Cargo Tracking Note (CTN) to ensure safety of cargoes and make Nigerian ports more attractive.
The Chairman of the PCC, Chief Kunle Folarin, told NAN that “that service (CTN) is a must’’.
Folarin urged government agencies to carry out their legitimate duties by preventing dangerous cargoes from entering the country.
“I am supporting Shippers’ Council because it is the protector of cargoes and must know the cargoes that are coming in.
“I am supporting NIMASA because it is controlling the labour and the environment of the port; it must know what cargo is coming.
“The Customs must also know the cargoes to be examined;
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that CTN was introduced by the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) as the ports economic regulator in November 2015.
It was a bold attempt to end decades of trade malpractices in which the Federal Government lost billions of naira annually.
CTN has the backing of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) under the International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) Code 2004.
It also has the backing of the Maritime Organisation of West and Central Africa (MOWCA) and has been introduced in some West and Central African countries.
It came up following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack in the U.S.
The CTN was introduced in Nigeria in 2009 but later suspended because of some high charges imposed on shippers and now re-introduced by the Shippers’ Council.
Also in the week under review, the West Africa Container Terminal (WACT), Onne Port, was named Nigeria’s Best Container Handling and Port Development Company of 2015 for improving on productivity, investment and service delivery.
This was contained in a statement made available to newsmen by the General Manager, Communications & Sustainability, APM Terminals Nigeria, Mr Austine Fischer.
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The statement said the award titled “African Governance and Corporate Leadership Award 2015’’, was organised in Abuja by the Nigerian Institute for Government, Research, Leadership and Technology.
It said the award was given in recognition of WACT’s establishment of new industry standards in the areas of productivity, investment and service delivery to its customers in Nigeria.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the container terminal (WACT) is owned and operated by APM Terminals and is part of the APM Terminals Global Terminal Network.
(NAN)