CUSTOMS ATTRIBUTE LOW REVENUE TO BAD ROAD

The dwindling revenue collection at the Sifax off-dock terminal has been attributed to the deplorable state of roads at the Sunrise/Coconut axis of A papa/Oshodi Expressway in Lagos.

The Deputy Comptroller of Customs in charge of valuation at the terminal, Mrs. Adegoke Olufunke Grace gave the hint in Lagos.

Adegoke who has been deployed to the off dock facilities since 2014, stated that Sifax Group is not finding it easy to break even due to the bad roads and customs revenue collection from the bonded terminal has been badly affected.

The DC who is in charge of valuation at the facility spoke after being honored with an award over the weekend .

“Movement of cargoes to this facility has dropped due to the bad roads and we collect revenue based on the quantity of cargoes that come to the terminal”.

According to her, the bad link road posed major challenges to the customs at the bonded terminal, adding that, cargo handlers found it difficult to be transport cargoes from the mother port down to the facility .

General Manager Sifax off dock terminal, Mr. Oliver Omajuwa had recently lamented that the dilapidated state of the roads within Trinity / Berger axis was affecting operational activities of the terminal .

Omajuwa, urged the Federal Government as a matter of urgency to fix the road in order to save businesses from the impending shut down due to the deplorable state of the Tin Can–Coconut port access road.

The General Manager said that with the early rains coming in , it was a clear indication that 2018 might likely be a year of heavy rains, with devastating effects on businesses operating in the axis as well as other road users.

He noted that it was a difficult time for businesses located around the Coconut axis as their bottom line was being daily eroded with various interventions on the road.

He explained that fortnightly, SIFAX Off Dock provides its own palliative on the road by filling some bad portions (Coconut & Sunrise axis) with about 50 truck-loads of hard core stones and sometimes when container-laden trucks got stuck on the road, the company moves out its equipment such as reach stackers and others to salvage the situation.

Similarly, Mrs Adegoke lamented that the slow pace of the ongoing palliative had been discouraging , calling on the contractors to expedite actions to fix the roads in order to encourage trade facilitation and further boost revenue collection for the government.