Port Congestion: NSC urges Terminal Operators to embrace efficiency

The Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) has called on Terminal operators to embrace efficiency to address congestion at the Nigerian ports’ terminal

The Executive Secretary and Chief Executive Officer of the Council, Mr. Hassan Bello made the call when he led the NSC’s team of enforcement and monitoring officers on a working visit to the Terminal (APMT) in Lagos, on Friday.

According to him, the terminal operators have a role to play in ensuring that the trucks coming in or leaving the ports are not causing congestion.

He maintained that the delays should not be seen as an opportunity to impose extra costs on containers at the detriment of the shippers.

He also urged them to stop imposing charges on containers landed at the ports during the yuletide.

The Stakeholder Manager, APM Terminal, Odibe Daniel, said the terminal is contributing to the Federal Government’s economy drive to improve the economy through its services, disclosing that exports which previously made up about 7% of its total cargo throughput now account for 25%. This increase occurred between 2018 and 2019. He attributed this increase to favorable government policies.

Odibe expressed the terminal operator ‘s readiness to improve on service delivery.

The Enforcement Team from the Regulatory Services Department of NSC had earlier paid a fact-finding visit to Apapa Ports quays to investigate the cause of congestion at the port terminals. In the course of this assignment, the NSC Team discovered that the congestion is a result of consignees not coming forward to take delivery of cargo. The team reported that APMT has boosted its terminal operations by acquiring more equipment, however, these efforts need to be complemented by the provision of motorable access roads to the ports.