…Vows to bring sanity to the ports
The International Freight Forwarding Association (IFFA), Apapa chapter has inaugurate over 65 man taskforce team even as it is set to set up committees that will work at the ports.
Speaking to journalists shortly after the inauguration, the Chairman of IFFA, Apapa chapter, Mr. Ossy Ezenweinyinya dispelled the insinuation that the taskforce was over bloated adding that number was a clear indication of the enthusiasm and believe the members had in the executive of the chapter.
Ezenweinyinya observed that before the taskforce resume work fully, he envisaged that the number would soar to a hundred adding with that people would know that they were out for a serious business.
According to him,” We have over 64 members for taskforce alone to show you their enthusiasm and believe they have in the executive of this chapter. I will wish you come around the day we are going to go inside the terminals. I know before then, we may get up to a hundred people and that is the beauty of it, the more the merrier. Let them come here so that people will know that we are not joking. These people have seen that we have responsible men, people who will not shortchange them for whatever reason”.
He disclosed that the coming of IFFA was an answer to prayers of the agents by God as the group had come to liberate their members who were oppressed adding that the taskforce team would work to ensure that containers were positioned as and when due .
“We want them to get information that this container is positioned, if they are not positioned, we are not going to bear the blunt of it, we are not going to pay for not positioning the containers. If they have problem with their system and they didn’t print our SGD or whatever, the agents and their importers should not pay for whatever their (terminal operators) problem is until they are resolved.
“We want people to give us evidence that they paid today before 10 o’clock, their container should drop before 2 o’clock for them to do examination. We don’t understand this issue of you pay today, they will give you 4 days before they drop containers or if you offload there, after taking your goods for delivery, if the containers are returning to the ports, it will take them 4 to 5 days to drop containers and nobody is taking cognizance of the fact that your money is being deducted from the deposit which you made. You are not showed any care, you are treated as if you are slaves in your country and their monies are being taken out of Nigeria. These people have shown that they don’t have the capacity to handle those terminals as it were in the days of NPA”, he said.
He maintained that the essence of privatization was to make clearing faster and cheaper saying that nobody was talking about what was happening in the past as it was a known fact that in the 90s that most landlocked countries like Chad and Niger were coming on transit through Nigeria to their countries.
He regretted that those things were now history as they now prefer doing business through the ports of the neighbouring countries as a result of the fact that the cost of doing business in the country was high.
The IFFA boss however refuted the believe that the essence of inaugurating the taskforce was to shut down ports if their demands were not met as he said that that would be counterproductive insisting that those holding that view may be doing that out of exuberance even as he said that dialogue should be their watchword.
On whether the group was registered with the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN), he said,” We, individually are members of the CRFFN, that is registered members of the CRFFN but what we are looking at is that we have freedom of association. This is International Freight Forwarding Association, we are looking at it that very soon, IFFA will be registered. But that is not an issue because individually, we are members of CRFFN and we support CRFFN”.
On if the taskforce members would not be disallowed from operating at the ports since the group was yet to register with CRFFN, he maintained that,” That is what I said, our members being members of CRFFN, you can’t stop them from operating. All you will do is to ask them to produce their ID Cards and if they have a valid ID Cards as members of CRFFN, you won’t stop them. That they have come together as a group which our constitution allows freedom of association, nobody will stop them. I am not even seeing any problem from that angle”.
Send your news, press releases/articles to info@primetimereporters.com. Also, follow us on Twitter @reportersinfo and on Facebook at facebook.com/primetimereporters or call the editor on 07030661526, 08053908817.
