The General Manager Public Affairs of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Captain Iheanacho Ebubeogu has given reasons why NPA cannot totally hands off from cargo operation even when the ports have been concessioned out to private operators.
Ebubeogu who was speaking at the just concluded 2-day conference organized by the Maritime Correspondents’ Organization of Nigeria (MARCON) in Lagos gave two reasons why the authority could not dissociate itself from the terminal operators.
According to him,” The first is wreck removal. Whoever we send to remove the wrecks for us, if a ship goes and hit the wreck, that person is covered by cachous insurance. If there is any issue about cargo in the ports, go and check where concessions have take place or lease, in most cases, people there value, they enjoy peace between the terminal operators and the ports authority and how do we get money in a concession regime like this? The port makes its money from two areas; throughput fee and land utilization.
“So, if we make money from throughput fee, it is like you will have a house and you rent it to tenants, nobody will ask your tenants to pay tenement rent. I think it is an oversight to say that we don’t have responsibility to cargo. No, not when it comes to making sure that the terminal operators are doing what they are supposed to do. Right now, good a thing because we have interest in port operation, commercial regulation is given to another agency. Those two agencies must make sure that they have a house keeping format with which those concessionaires must operate.
“This is the umbilical cord linking us with cargo operation not because we handle cargo but at the same time representing government, we have a responsibility to have an oversight function on monitoring and compliance in what is happening in the ports to make sure housekeeping is upheld”.
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