The Chairman, National Association of Government Approved freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), Lillypond chapter, Rev. Emmanuel Agubanze has said that resuscitation of business activities at the Lillypond Container Depot would not be made possible only by agents using the depot as the port of final discharge as claimed in some quarters.
Agubanze who stated this in a chat with newsmen in Lagos said that the terminal operator of the depot should consider giving incentives to the importers and their agents as a way of attracting business to the depot adding that it is only when this is done that agents as well as importers should reasons to make sacrifices.
He noted that stemming containers to the Lillypond terminal from Tincan was enough sacrifice on the part of the importers and their agents as it comes with it additional cost and delay.
According to him,” it is not about agents making declarations or make what you call True Bill of Lading in which case you say that the final port of discharge is Lillypond. That is not what will make the terminal boom. How many agents will do that? What is their incentive? Because before a freight forwarder can go all the way to instruct the shipper to now use Lillypond as the final port of discharge, there must be an incentive because you know there is an additional cost.
“For instance, the container will come to Tincan, it will stay at least one week before they will transfer the container to Lillypond and as you know, time is money, the demurrage will be counting both for the terminal operator and for the shipping company.
“So, what incentive do you give to such people who make such sacrifice because it becomes a sacrifice and what value addition do you bring to the table? What quality of service do you bring to the table because these ones are the things that will attract containers to your terminal? So, all these things we have not seen it and moreover, for Lillypond to boom, we need a dedicated vessel, the agreement must cover that. If there is no contract o that effect, the place will continue to remain a desert, there is no two ways about it”.
When asked whose duty it is to ensure availability of containers to Lillypond, he had this to say, ”People paid to the federal government to use Lillypond, the concessionaire, the people that own that place, they paid money, they invested money there, they have upgraded the facilities there. So, they are the ones that do their business, they should run their business but if there is any other hidden agenda, then it will be said that Nigeria has been shortchanged and it is corruption”.
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