Following the unfolding events at the nation’s largest terminal AP Moller Terminal (APMT) Apapa, the stakeholders have disagreed on the efficiency or otherwise of the terminal’s management in delivering timely services to Nigerians.
Speaking in an interview with Primetime Reporters recently, the Managing Director of Stephens Global Services Limited, Comrade Stephen Ibe accused the management of the terminal of adopting some tactical delays in the booking and positioning of containers for examination at the terminal thereby making Nigerians to incur demurrages for them and the shipping companies.
Comrade described the situation where one would have about six or more containers in the same bill of laden to book for and position for examination, only for the terminal to clear two or three of the containers as the case may be thereby deferring the other containers for booking and positioning on a later date as unacceptable.
He lamented that even though the management was the one that deferred ones booking, they would go on charging demurrage on the consignment which against international best practice.
He said, “Charging demurrage is it not to penalize somebody that doesn’t want to carry his cargo? Now, we have gone there, paid their charges and shown intent that we want to carry our cargoes, they will say that they have closed for the day that we should come the next day”.
“Why coming back the next day? They know that these six containers are in one bill of laden, if you book four and you don’t book two, it is as well as not booking at all. The customs will not release the containers because they are in one bill of laden, once you release four, the whole thing wipes off the system. Before they will release any of them, they will make sure that all of them are okay”.
“They tactically delayed the other two containers because they want the containers to be incurring demurrages for them. This is what we are suffering in the hands of these people that are not supposed to be”.
He disclosed that aware that the terminal’s management had a number of containers they book for examination on daily basis, people always leave their homes as early as five o’clock in the morning in other for them to get number to enable them book their containers, only for them to reserve the numbers to the highest bidders who paid them some amount of money at the detriment of those who made it at the terminal on time to take number.
“In scanning containers, there is a certain amount you will pay, if you book your container today, they will position it for scanning today, tomorrow you go and carry your container. There is an amount they used to collect from people”, Ibe said.
On his part, the Chairman, National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), Dr. Fred Ajuzie described the issue of tactical delay as a technical issue.
According to Ajuzie, “let us say there are two hundred people who want their containers to be booked for examination. Out of the two hundred people, only ten people have three hundred containers, ninety others have one each or two containers each as the case may be. If APMT does not use their discretion, they cannot serve the other ninety people”.
“This is not like they want people to pay demurrage, it is a way of ensuring that people are randomly attended to and not that it is a ploy to keep generating demurrage”.
He remarked that APMT was a very sound organization, that upon all the delays and other setbacks witnessed in the terminal today, they were better than the days of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) adding that there was no basis for comparison.
He noted that APMT had improved the condition of the ports even as he added that all they were asking the management of the terminal to do was to justify their name as giant in terminal delivery by bringing more efficiency to bear on the terminal.
On why the number of disputes witnessed at the terminal in recent time were higher compared to other terminals in the country, he had this to say,” APMT is trying their very best, we have to be frank. Whatever TICT or any other terminal is doing, they borrowed from APMT. The only thing is that the tonnage in terms of cargo throughput in other terminals is lower compared to that of APMT. APMT have more cargo throughput than all those other terminals. That is to say that some vessels are stemmed to other terminals from Apapa”.
On the allegation of bribery to book and position containers on time for examination, Ajuzie said, “that is a rumour but the one I can confirm is people coming very early. You know Nigerians, we are dynamic, everybody wants it fast, but we at the association, we are working where APMT will extend their time of booking, not making the people not to sleep in the night, coming very early so as to get number
