Shipping companies, terminal operators frustrating ease of doing business at port - ANLCA Chieftain

Funso Olojo

A Chieftain of the Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) Barrister Ada Akpunonu has accused the foreign shipping lines and terminal operators of frustrating the ease of doing business initiative of the Federal Government.

Barrister Ada, in an exclusive interview with our correspondent in Lagos, lamented that the activities and attitude of these services providers are not only antithesis of the spirit of seamless goods clearance procedures but are meant to subject users of their services to mindless extortion and manipulation.

The ANLCA chieftain who is also the chairman of Shipping companies and terminal operators committee of the association, decried the activities of Maersk line and Cosco Shipping companies, especially for their flagrant disobedience of the directive of the Nigerian Ports Authority on the need to have holding bays to decongest the port access road.

“These two shipping companies have fouled the operating environment which is terrible.

“Shipping companies and terminal operators are not complying.

“Taking the issue of Cosco, Maersk line, as we are talking now, the cost of transportation has increased because Cosco is not dropping empty containers.

“Because they do not have holding bays and then counting demurrage on it in defiance of NPA’s directive.

“They are the ones that have caused this problem; liabilities had come up as a result of their inefficiency which is to be borne by the importers and the agents at the end of the day because they continue to count that as demurrages.

She however lauded the efforts of the Managing Director of NPA, Hadiza Bala-Usman for what she described as her outstanding performance to ensure that there is sanity in the port environment.

Akpunonu lamented that the NPA boss was not getting the necessary support from other government agencies that would have ensured there is full compliance by the service providers.”Talking of ease of doing business and of the truth; one of the organizations that has really complied and is assisting the stakeholders in the implementation of that government policy is the NPA.

“The MD, Hajia Hadiza is very compassionate about it and even ensuring that other agencies of the government in the ports also comply but unfortunately, a tree cannot make a forest. She has tried her best, looking at the way she handled the issue of police and some other agencies and so on.

“The police now make sure they investigate and study before blocking containers; we no longer have blanket blocking, they just don’t block containers for no reason.

The ANLCA chieftain however lampooned the Nigerian Shippers Council for what she described as its timidity in tackling the excesses, arrogance and flagrant disregard of the service providers for rules of engagement.

“We have government, shippers’ council who is doing nothing.

“I had cases where I had taken Cosco to shippers’ council for trade infraction ,had meeting and agreed on what Cosco should refund an importer, but when I went back to shippers’ council to find out why Cosco had not returned the money, they could not find the file” she bemused.

On the activities of terminal operators, Barrister Ada said they too have become arrogant; refusing to attend to customers once it is after 12 noon.

“The terminal operators have begun to stop booking for examination as early as 12pm.

“What is the official hour of doing business in Nigeria? These people are foreigners and making our ports very unfriendly and people are now going to the neighbouring countries to bring in their goods” Ada lamented.

She however advised the Federal Government to revisit the operational procedures of the service providers by setting up an independent body, comprising government officials and stakeholders who will sanitise the system.

“The government has to set up an independent body of people with integrity including stakeholders, because we wear the shoes and we know where it hurts, to tell them the truth about the operations at our sea ports.

“They (government) may not be aware of the truth, because government does not interact with the stakeholders even during policy formulation and so on, stake holders should be part of policy formulation so that you get the true information from them” she observed.