Barely two weeks after the suspension of the withdrawal of services embarked upon by the freight forwarders at Apapa on November 3, 2014, indications are rife that another withdrawal of service may be in the offing.
It will be recalled that the Freight forwarders operating at Apapa in Lagos State under the aegis of Joint Association Committee (JAC) earlier this month withdrew their services at the AP Moller Terminals (APMT) and ENL Terminals over alleged high handedness and inefficient service delivery.
However, the action was on the 14th of November, 2014 resolved with the aid of the Commissioner of Police, Western Ports Police Command, Mrs. Hilda Ibifuro Harrison leading to the signing of a 10 paragraph Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Freight Forwarders and the Management of APMT on the way forward.
But barely two weeks after the MOU was signed, the freight forwarders had started accusing the management of APMT of reneging the terms of the MOU threatening to resume their action which according to them would be total this time around.
Speaking in a chat with newsmen in Lagos, the Chairman, Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) Apapa Chapter, Mr. Olumide Fakanlu attested to the fact that the authorities of APMT had backed out of the agreement describing it as unfortunate.
He accused them of breaching the paragraphs 1 to 3 of the MOU adding that the Management of the terminal has said that those items were difficult for them to comply with.
According to him,” APMT is not complying with the MOU, they said that items 1, 2, 3 is difficult for them to comply with. It is about their inefficiency which we highlighted earlier, that they should bear the cost of their inefficiency but they are trying to withdraw from the cost now because the first one is booking time which we agreed up to 12 mid day thinking that the thing will be extended till 2 pm. But now, they said they cannot even be available till that 12 mid day”.
“Partial booking which we all said was not ideal, that there should be no more partial booking, they still continued with partial booking. The third one is bearing the cost of the storage of all the containers that are on the bill of lading that is if they did not book all the containers in the bill of lading that will be in their system, if they cannot position or they cannot deliver it is up to them”.
“But now, with that partial booking, that is if you have 10 containers and they booked two, they are now telling us that they are only responsible for that two, so the remaining eight, you have to continue paying for them which is cheating on the Nigerian economy”.
He informed that they were consulting with other interest groups like the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), the Civil Societies, the relevant agencies in the international business as well as the Manufacturers’ Association of Nigeria (MAN) on the matter adding that the forthcoming withdrawal of Service would no longer be for the freight forwarders alone.
“It will be a total action this time around; it won’t just be within the Apapa freight forwarders alone. Even the Manufacturers’ Association of Nigeria, we are going to invite them too, they will know so there won’t be pressure this time. The last one we did was under pressure but this one will not be under pressure. It will be properly organized and the whole world will be informed”, he said.
Reacting to the allegation, the spokesman of APMT, Mr. Bolaji Akinola denied the allegation saying that the Management of APMT was fully committed to the spirit and letters of the MOU it signed with the freight forwarders in the presence of the Commissioner of Police, Western Ports.
He described APMT as a responsible organization who respect agreements especially the ones that would better enhance harmony in the business environment.
On the alleged breach of paragraphs 1, 2, 3 of the MOU by the terminal’s Management, Mr. Akinola drew the attention of the freight forwarders who are crying foul to paragraph 10 of the same MOU which read,” it is understood between the parties that further discussions will take place between the parties on Monday the 17th of November, 2014 in respect of paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 above”.
He maintained that the said items 1, 2, 3 spoke about by the freight forwarders were inconclusive and that on the 17th of November, 2014 scheduled to continue discussions on the items, the freight forwarders opted for the matter to be discussed with the Honourable Minister of Transport, Sen. Idris Umar the following day at Abuja.
“Four of us at APMT were at the meeting with the Minister of Transport at Abuja and we were waiting for them to open discussion on the matter but the matter was not mentioned at the meeting and we are still waiting for them to come for further discussion only for us to start hearing that APMT has reneged the agreement. APMT is committed to the agreement and we cannot renege it”, Mr. Akinola said.
