National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to revisit the policy on importation since it is affecting their business.
The Vice Chairman of NARTO, Dry Cargo branch, Lagos State, Alhaji Abdullahi Mohammed Inuwa who made this appeal in an interview with Primetime Reporters in Lagos members of the association in the maritime sector of the economy were suffering unquantifiable pain.
He said,” We know that the government is trying to diversify the economy but we at the maritime sector or the economy, I am telling you that the pain we are now nursing is unquantifiable.
“Presently at the seaport, for the past six to eight months, if not just about last two weeks that they have little shipment of fertilizer, I think the ports were merely empty. Anywhere you pass, you can see trucks lying idle and you know what it is. If you have one truck, it is equivalent to having 20 dependants that you are feeding because when one truck loads, an average of 20 people derive their livelihood from it.
Now, those trucks are lying idle, what about those truck owners that have 30 to 50 trucks or even 100? The drivers’ salaries, the motor boy, all depend on it and there is nothing for you to load. That can show you the impact of the pain that we are facing”.
He disclosed that some of their members had gone to the extent of looking for who would buy their trucks so that they could support themselves but nobody was forthcoming.
“Some of our members who are based in the north cannot come here, their turn around time has been reduced by almost 90% because at the north, they don’t have anything to lift down to this place and in return, if they come here, they could spend between 20 and 30 days before they could be able to get load to return.
“So, you can see, we know that they are trying to diversify the economy but there are some things that we feel that assuming the government had done,it could have been better.
“We are aware that for some decades now, we have depended on importation but even if we say we want to reverse the trend, I am aware that in the north where Boko Haram and herdsmen have taken over, some farmers cannot access their farms for almost four years. The north central, the Fulani herdsmen and farmers, you see where they are clashing. Even if you say they want to encourage local production, it would have been 50-50. Whatever policy they are making in support of local production, let it be 50% import and 50% local. Then, if they see improvement on our local production, they will continue to reduce it.
“But now, we have seen, although they are trying, people are suffering. They spend money and time because they have to leave their parks to come here and park in the paid garages, they pay at least the sum of N1000.00 for any day they parked in the paid garages. Then how much is the person going to make in the end. AGO has increased, the turn around time of cargo has reduced. That is why you see a lot of trucks lying idle in the garages”, he lamented.
The NARTO Chieftain therefore called on the Federal Government to do the needful to save the economy from further deteriorating by reviewing some of it’s policy on importation that is having negative impact on their trade.
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