Apapa Traffic: Operators give conditions to extend demurrage free days

Abiola Seun |

Shipping companies and Terminal Operators have asked the federal government for concession on lease fee they pay to government in other to extend the storage and demurrage free days.

Before now, Nigeria has three free storage days and five demurrage free days, which is low compared to neighbouring Benin Republic, which has ten demurrage-free days and Ghana, on the other hand with eight demurrage-free days.

A senior manager at one of the leading container terminal in Lagos disclosed that the terminal operators and shipping companies are still engaging the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) through the Seaports Terminal Operators Association of Nigeria (STOAN) and Shipping Association of Nigeria (SAN) on need to give concession on lease fee before they could give more free days.

According to the source who craved anonymity because she is not authorised to speak, said only when government gives concession is when they can also extend.

She said, “we have written a proposal as a group, STOAN wrote, SAN also wrote to NPA and Shippers’ Council but we have not yet concluded the discussion.”
“Also, government should give us concession on lease fee because if we extend, we may not be able to meet up with our payment and that will also give importers the opportunity to feel relaxed and not move their cargoes out of the port in time.”
“I have said repeatedly, terminal operators don’t make money from storage but rather on throughput, if cargoes are moved out within three days and another one is discharged, we make money than people abandoning their cargoes and eating up our spacing,” she said on strong condition of anonymity.
She continued, solving the Apapa traffic problem must be a win win situation, everyone including government and stakeholders must be ready to sacrifice,” she further advised.

Meanwhile, following the efforts by the Presidential Task Team to decongest the port access road, the government had sought the support of the shipping companies to extend their demurrage free period from five to ten days and terminal operators to also extend their storage free period from three to eight day.

The Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), Barr. Hassan Bello over the weekend disclosed that they were expecting the shipping companies to further extend the demurrage free period to twelve days for ninety days arguing that this would also make truckers not to come out at once to deposit the empty containers to the port.

Bello said,” There are lots of sacrifices made; NPA has been on the issue for a very long time. Shipping companies have also make sacrifice, they have extended the demurrage free days from five days to ten days and they still could do better. We are expecting them to have twelve days demurrage free period for ninety days. I think that will also make people not come out at once to deposit the empty containers.

“The terminal operators have also made sacrifices, the free days have been extended from three to eight days and I think that that is wonderful so that they don’t charge demurrage until the eight days. Of course, the truckers, we need them to be disciplined because that is the human angle I am talking about because without discipline, we cannot achieve anything”.

While stating that 60% of the problem was lack of proper traffic management and lack of discipline, he however appealed to the truckers, the unions as well as the drivers to follow the procedures adding that the call up system, manual at first would be decided in no time whereby trucks would be called only when they were needed so that not everybody would rush to Apapa and then migrate to electronic call up system.

“The NPA is leading on this and all the concerned parties that are involved, shipping companies, the terminal operators, they will start meeting on Tuesday to articulate this. Already, some terminals have their own call up system, so, we have to latch on such programme. So, this simplification of procedures and processes will help in easing the traffic congestion. There must be cooperation, synergy between all concerned including the Lagos State government that has been able to participate in this and we expect more participation from Lagos state government.

‘The Police here, LASTMA, many agencies and when they come together and talk amongst themselves, I think the problem will be solved. It is gradual.

“For the infrastructure, you have seen the road being constructed, we have taken you round, the moment we have that, most of the issues will go and then the processes, we have holding bay, we have the trailer park, they are going to be available. The Lilypond has already started courtesy of NPA and this will of course militate against the traffic overflow on roads leading to and from the port. We have also private parks, Shippers’ Council has been able to identify about 54 of them, some will be put to use and once we have combination of all these, then , you will see that we will have sanity on the road”, he explained.

On number of trucks still on the road despite presidential directive to rid the port access roads of trucks within 72 hours, he said, “Trucks must be on the road in Apapa otherwise we will not have that port economy but what we want is orderliness, what we need is a very effective system that will be orderly, that will be cost effective, that will have in sight the ease of doing business and also the cost of doing business.”