The Maritime Workers’ Union of Nigeria (MWUN) on Monday accused the staff of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) of being more interested in what goes into their pockets than doing the job for which they were sent to do at ports.
Speaking during the visit of the House of Representatives Committee on Maritime Safety, Education and Administration to the National Secretariat of the National Association of Stevedoring Companies (NASC), a representative of MWUN, Comrade Abdullahi Eroje alleged that NIMASA cannot be said to be enforcing any law as it were in the industry.
He further thumbed down on the processes it take for the agency’s officers in the zones especially those in the eastern and central zones in getting approval for them to take action on erring vessels, terminals and jetties citing the complain of the Coordinator of the eastern zone to the union as an example.
He said,” NIMASA is not enforcing any law, they go out to look for what they will eat. I have my evidence and I can make them available”.
He lamented that all the jetties in the central zone most of which he said were in the creeks were without stevedore agents decrying the security implications of the development to the nation.
While emphasizing the need for a review of the government’s position on Tally Clerks and Onboard Security men, he called on the House Committee to use their legislative powers to get the NPA and the Ministry of Transportation to revisit the issue.
Reacting, the Director, Maritime Labour of NIMASA, Mrs. Juliana Gunwa disagreed with the submissions made by Eroje adding that her office had a good working relationship with MWUN and that nothing of such nature had been brought to her knowledge by MWUN.
According to her,”Mr. Chairman Sir, I beg to take an exception to some of the allegations leveled against NIMASA. I wish to say and for it to be put on record that we have a very peaceful and excellent relationship with the union.
“True, for sometimes now, I might say that we may not have effectively carried out some of our responsibilities within the last few months but in the past, we have had to do that because we had a platform and on the issue of this platform not being in place, the management is equally looking into it to make sure that we are on top of this problem and that in all the zones, they will be able to perform effectively.
“On the allegation that NIMASA and in particular the maritime labour officers go about collecting money is a statement I beg to take an exception to and I don’t think that is right. We have a working relationship with MWUN and if there are officers you have caught doing this, I expected that that would have been reported to the management of NIMASA and as the Director in charge of maritime labour department, not one of such had been brought to my attention.
“So, we will ask that if there are such allegations that you know and you have evidence, as an agency, we will be glad to have the record from you. For this, I will not be glad for you to generalize the agency and especially my department moving around and collecting money, I don’t think that is done and with little enforcement capability that we have as a department and as an agency, we will try to carry out enforcement.
“Only this morning, I still get a memo from Coordinator of the eastern zone, I can show you the memo, informing me that there are some foreigners onboard a particular vessel. I have their names and all that and that they have carried out due diligence and they were seeking an approval to detain the vessel and I have given them the go ahead once they know they have carried out the due diligence to detain the vessel”.
The Director maintained that as far as the agency was able to carry out enforcement, any company found not complying with some of its regulations, the agency would ensure that such company was adequately fined.
“So, please MWUN, I want to request that we have a working relationship with you over the years. Even on Friday, we still meet with your executives on the review of the wages in particular and nine of this was brought to our attention and I think it is quite embarrassing for you to bring it before the House Committee when you have not brought it to our attention and we work closely together. You have a representative with us and Lucky is seated here. Till this day, he has an office in my department and I am not sure he has brought me a report of somebody taking money at the ports”, she lamented.
However, the responses from Mrs. Gunwa did not go down well with Comrade Eroje as he was determined to reply her but for the intervention of the Chairman of the House Committee, Hon. Mohammed Umaru Bago who sarcastically quipped,”Mrs. Gunwa, I want to maybe say something, from what I have captured from what Comrade Abdullahi said, he didn’t say you are collecting bribe, he said you collected what is due to NIMASA and left”, which attracted a loud laugh from the audience.
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