One month after the coming into effect of the new automotive policy of the federal government which saw the duty rate jerked up from the usual 10 percent in 2013 to 35 percent in 2014, activities at the Ports and Terminal Multiservices Limited (PTML) command of the Nigeria Customs Service may have been slowed down.
A visit at the command by our correspondent revealed that the command’s car park where imported used vehicles are parked for clearing was littered with vehicles of different kinds most of them, buses and delivery vans.
At the shipping companies unit which used to be a beehive of activities was a ghost of itself as few number of agents were spotted at the unit transacting business there at the time of the visit as against the crowd that used to besiege the unit for business before now.
It will be recalled that it was at this same shipping companies unit that an agent was said to have slumped about a year or two ago owing to the over crowded nature of this unit.
At the Terminal Delivery Order (TDO) Unit which used to be littered with people with some agents even lobbying and sorting their ways out in order to be attended to on time, only about four people were seen at the counter transacting their businesses with the TDO staff having little or nothing to do.
At the exit gate, the situation was not different as the place which used to be flooded with vehicles each struggling to leave the terminal, was seen hosting about five vehicles seeking to exit from the gate.
Not satisfied with the development at the once busy car park, our correspondent sought the views of some agents working at the PTML command to ascertain the circumstances that lead to the minimal activity at the command presently.
Speaking to our correspondent on the matter, the President, Cross Contact international Limited, Comrade Tiger Julius Nwaokoma blamed the situation on the hike on the import rate being paid by importers top get their vehicles out of the ports.
Nwaokoma observed that the new duty being paid at the moment had made it difficult for importer to come forward to clear their vehicles and take them out of the ports thus attracting more demurrage on the vehicles.
He regretted that some importers had shipped their vehicles with the intent of clearing them with the old duty rate only for the vehicles to get to the ports, they were asked to pay a new duty rate which they didn’t envisaged before now adding that the development had made most of them to abandon their vehicles at the ports.
According to him,” Infact, vehicle clearing at the ports has declined drastically, the clearing process, the duty being paid now has made it difficult. If you go into the car park where these vehicles are parked for clearing, you will see that vehicles are parked in the car park for over one month now. These are the things that don’t stay up to three days and it becomes demurrage”.
Now, if an importer who plans to clear his vehicle with at least, let us say eighty thousand Naira or one hundred thousand Naira or at most one hundred and fifty thousand Naira, as government made it before in consideration of the poor masses in the country to help them in transporting themselves, the vehicles come in to meet the new government policy of thirty-five percent, the man is running around to get money and demurrage is hipped up”.
Tiger who is also the founder and Chairman of Ngor-Okpala Freight Forwarders Association disclosed that the new auto policy of the government had come with it hardship on the people of Nigeria as according to him, the transporters in Lagos state had hiked their fares since the introduction of the new policy.
He therefore expressed optimism that President Goodluck Jonathan who according to him is a listening President would understand the hardship the new policy has plunged Nigerians into and reverse the policy.
Also speaking, the Chairman, National Association of Government Approved freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), PTML Chapter, Chief Goodluck Onunji disagreed with Nwaokoma over the issue as according to him, the PTML command was never in anyway congested as people were taking delivery of their vehicles as they come.
He said, “ if you go outside there and look at the terminal, you see that work is going fine. Those that brought in their goods through PTML are not complaining. We that are the Freight Forwarders on ground, we are not complaining because we all know that it is a federal government policy which each and everyone of us should know and join hands to make it work”.
On the number of vehicles at the car park, Onunji recalled that the PTML/Grimaldi is a RoRo (roll on, roll out) port arguing that ships berth on the terminal almost on a daily basis and that none of those ships come with anything less that three hundred vehicles.
He explained that as the ships come, people are taking delivery and that as one ship goes, another comes informing that there are no two or three days ships don’t berth at the terminal.
On the scanty people at the shipping companies and TDO un its, has has this to say, “ I can tell you that the shipping companies has done a good job. They expanded that marketing side and put that in place to be a suitable place that each agent who enters there to do his work will feel free and do the job”.
“They have also employed more workers in the office, at least there is no job that lasts more than ten minutes to leave their table. So there is no reason for you to be expecting people to be there”.
“So, if I should tell you that the RoRo port PTML/Grimaldi is congested, it is a lie. I will not be a party to that because I have to tell you the truth”.
Also speaking, the command’s Public relations officer, Mr. Steve Okonmah expressed surprise over the claims that the car park was congested saying that the officers of the command knew there was no congestion at the car park.
Okonmah further argued that before anyone could say that the car park was congested, such a person should first find out how many ships berths at the terminal on a regular basis.
He said,” within this period, we have had about five berths and you cannot expect them to clear everything the same day. The owners don’t come the same time, some don’t even know that their vehicles had arrived. That is why PTML command sends text messages to the importers to come for their consignment”.
On the thirty-five percent duty rate, Okonmah stated that the new duty had come to stay and wondered why somebody could raise over six hundred thousand Naira to go to Europe to import vehicles but cannot raise about two hundred thousand Naira here to pay as duty describing it as funny.
“So, what I have told you now is that we don’t have anything like congestion and anybody who is saying that there is congestion, it is out of the person’s imagination”, he said.
Reacting on the number of Vehicles exiting the gate, Okonmah again expressed surprise that our correspondent observed fewer vehicles exiting the gate as he claimed that the information reaching him was that the exit gate was congested.
He therefore refuted the claim and said that he disagreed with the claim adding that the information available to him was that about twenty vehicles had exited the gate as at the time of this report.
He further said, “ all the same, we have what we call a buffer zone. What we have agreed is that the idea of coming to crowd at the buffer zone should not be allowed. Even the owners of the terminal saw reasons with what we are saying. If you don’t see that place crowded, that means there is an improvement in the delivery system and not a decline in delivery”.
On the number of vehicles the command has cleared in the last one month, he also said,” the shipping companies who are the custodians are in a better position to give you that not us. We can release a vehicle today and it does not go out in the next one month”.
