…Says GM, others want to kill Port industry
There was an atmosphere of apprehension as the Coalition of Port Dry Cargo Transport Operators (CPDCTO) on Thursday protested the N10, 000 registration fee slammed on them by management of the Western Ports of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) as annual registration fee in order for their trucks to gain access in all the ports within the zone.
The protest which took off from the National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) Office at Apapa saw members carrying placards with different inscriptions mounted the back trailers and other vehicles traversing through Apapa Wharf to Tincan Island to Kirikiri Lighter Terminal (KLT) and back to Apapa chanting solidarity songs.
The Coalition is an amalgamation of all the truckers’ Associations involved in the carriage of dry cargo from the ports among which is the National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO), National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN), Association of Maritime Truck Owners (AMATO), Truck Drivers’ Unit of the Maritime Workers’ Union of Nigeria (MWUN-TDU) and Truck Terminal Users Association (TTUA).
Addressing newsmen before the commencement of the protest, the Chairman of the Coalition, Abdullahi Mohammed Inuwa who took time to give the background of the protest said that the policy put in place by the NPA to ensure minimum standard for all the trucks operating in the Western Ports and the condition upon which the minimum standard was based necessitated the protest.
Inuwa who reiterated for the umpteenth time that the Coalition was not against standardization of trucks as it was conceived for their safety however bemoan the effort by NPA to turn the exercise to revenue generating avenue for the authority.
“When you talk of a minimum standard, it is for safety but they are trying to turn it as a revenue generating avenue even at that, we have agreed to bring all our trucks to the minimum standard, already we are on it.
“But the N10, 000 which they are demanding, we object to it because they did not create enabling environment for us in terms of the holding bay at the ports, the bad roads, the implementation of the NPA directives to shipping companies to provide a holding bay for returning of empty containers. Those trucks you see lying along the roads will not be there.
So, based on that and so many other things, we said no, if you are talking about o0ther government agencies like FAAN (Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria) where we agreed that when we are going there, we do pay certain amount to FAAN and the money is receipted, there at FAAN, you will testify that the facilities there are not here because good roads are there and parking spaces for car hire and for trucks are there. If you enter there, they have where the drivers will park and load and after loading before they embark on their journey.
“So, if they use that as reference point, let them provide all these facilities and the level of extortion there at the airport is at zero level but you come here, before you access the port, you have to spend N5, 000 up to N10, 000”, he said.
On what they intend to achieve with the protest, the Coalition boss observed that they want to sensitize the public and the authority concerned on their demand so as to reason with them and see that where NPA was going was not acceptable to them and then forcing NPA to technically withdraw the N10, 000 registration fee and go on with the minimum standard.
Also speaking, the Secretary to the Coalition, Mr. Ifeanyi Ekwunife stated that the issue of truck standardization and registration dated back to 2012 and that they have had series of meetings with NPA but NPA was try to put the cart before the horse.
He recalled that they made certain demands before they reached an agreement with the NPA on what to pay regretting that NPA wanted them to pay first before providing them with an enabling environment to operate which he described as a wrong approach.
He maintained that the access roads to the ports are in terrible shape leading to cargoes and trucks being damaged on the roads whereas NPA was doing nothing about it saying that it was the money truckers were going to pay that they (NPA) were going to use to repair the access roads.
“NPA has been giving about maligning us as if we don’t want to repair our trucks. We said we fully back the initiative of the implementation of the minimum standard. It is to our own advantage and to advantage of the general goods. So, we are fully in support of it but for us to pay N10, 000 after we have paid more than N5, 000 per entry spuriously, they are not receipted, extorted from us by NPA personnel and security agencies”, he stated.
On how many of their members that have registered alongside the fleet operators said to have complied with NPA directive, he said,” I am not aware, let NPA show you one truck that has that sticker to show that it has paid that N10, 000. You are talking of keying in, physically, have seen their (fleet Operators’) trucks with the stickers?”
He however agreed with the view of NPA that they pay N500 per entry at the Eastern Ports but quickly added that that was because there were facilities on ground there and that the level of extortion there was at zero level.
On his part, a chieftain of the coalition, Mr. Sylvester Keshiro alleged that the general Manager, Chief Michael Ajayi and top officials of NPA wanted to kill the port industry adding that NPA had concessioned the ports to the terminal operators thereby managing only the gates even as he alleged that extortion was much for them to continue to bear.
“Even NPA is over staffed, I can tell you that. Where you are supposed to see two people, you see eith to ten people there. They want to become consultants and Chief Consultants after their retirement because many of them are going on retirement very soon and they will not because of that put us in danger”, he said.
Also in their comments, the Executive Secretary of NARTO, Aloga Ogbogo and the Chairman, Joint Council of Seaport Truckers (JCOST), Alhaji Kayode Odunowo condemned the registration fee adding that what NPA lacked was power of consultation.
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