AMATO identifies bribery, corruption as bane to achieving 30 percent slash on haulage

Abiola Seun

The Chairman Association of Maritime Trucks Owners (AMATO) Chief Remi Ogungbemi has said the 30 percent Haulage slash on carriage of goods may not be visible if the challenges confronting truckers are not removed

Recall that the truck owners decided to cut the cost of moving haulage by 30 percent as part of measures to cushion the effect of lockdown on port workers and Nigerians in general, after the Nigerian Shippers’ Council appealed to truck owners to review the cost of carriage of goods in the port.

However speaking to journalists, Chairman of AMATO Chief Remi Ogungbemi stated that the 30 percent haulage slash may not be feasible unless the government removes the challenges facing truck owners.

Ogungbemi lamented that the high rates charged by truckers result from some of the challenges that truckers face, adding that only a fraction of the money charged by truck owners is truly earned

He said truck owners can decide to slash the haulage fee by 50 percent if the government will get rid of some of the parasites on the roads. He urged the government to set up a committee that would look into removing them.

“Most of these charges are not our making, it’s as a result of some of the challenges that are facing truckers because there are a lot of things that are going on, even all those money … collected by truckers doesn’t go to the truckers’ purse, so there are many devourers that are devouring the proceeds.

“So these are the areas I think authority should look into to remove all those parasites and cankerworm that are eating up truckers on daily basis, because if the money collected by truckers are going to the truckers purse, you wouldn’t see any rickety trucks on the road, but the truth is what comes back to the truckers is just peanuts.

“So at the meeting, we looked at how we can help our nation because the whole thing still falls back to the consumer in the market so we decided to remove 30 percent, but what will make things work is let government help to remove some of the parasites that are extorting truckers.

“Let there be a committee that will see how all those cankerworm and parasites can be removed from our way. “We are even looking forward to how 50 percent can be removed, it is possible but so many challenges confronting truckers is the issue.

“Even though 30 percent we mentioned may not be realistic if those parasites extorting truckers are still there” he lamented.