The Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) has said that it is going to partner with the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) in coming up with a mechanism that will check delays at the nation’s seaport.
The Deputy Director Compliance Monitoring of the NSC, Chief Cajethan Agu who disclosed this in a goodwill message he delivered on behalf of the council during the inauguration of the newly elected SOAN executives in Lagos said the mechanism was supposed to monitor all the operational activities of the service providers at the ports with a view to identifying delays and operational lapses.
Agu pointed out that Shippers’ Council, aware that the nation’s ports had been bedeviled with delays and operational lapses, believed that having an automative system that would actually monitor these delays in place would add value to the port system.
He said,” we are going to partner with the Nigerian Ports Authority to unveil a port neuro-system. It is supposed to monitor all the operational activities of the service providers at the ports with a view to identifying delays and operational lapses. We are aware that as far as the ports system is concerned, our ports have been bedeviled with delays and operational lapses. An automative system that will actually monitor these delays will add value to the port system because once there is any delay, the particular organization that is causing that delay will be flagged off and will actually be notified that you are causing delays”.
He however hinted that he Council was also making some efforts to refloat its relationship with the regulated service providers in the industry explaining that the essence of refloating the relationship was to straighten it and also ensure that there was industrial harmony in the system which would make way for a better and conducive environment for doing business at reduced cost.
On the inauguration of the new SOAN executives, Agu posited,” SOAN and its members have remained a veritable and reliable partners of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council and it is manifested in the role played by the President of SOAN, Engr. Ogbeifun during the workings of the committee that established the framework for the establishment of the National Carrier in Nigeria.
“Again, during the past tenure of Greg, all of us here are witnesses that he performed creditably well and we hope that in this second tenure, he is going to surpass whatever achievements he might have made in the first tenure.We at the Nigerian Shippers’ Council will remain committed to support any activity, any programme that SOAN is going to embark upon that will improve efficiency in the maritime sector.
“Also at the Nigerian Shippers’ Council, we are also trying as much as possible to come up with some activities, measure and programmes that will improve on the port sector. For now, we are embarking on some automation initiatives and some of these automation initiatives that will bring added value to the maritime sector include the Port Service Support Portal which is expected to provide an online complaints handling. What this entails is that stakeholders can stay at the comfort of their offices, complain online to the Nigerian Shippers’ Council, we also handle the complaint online and give feedback to the complainants”.
On her part, the Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Ms Hadiza Bala Usman congratulated SOAN for the efforts it was making towards organizing its ship owners pointing out that ship owners before now was one of the unorganized associations in the maritime industry.
Represented by the former General Manager Public Affairs of NPA, Capt. Iheanacho Ebubeogu, Ms Usman averred that it was only an organized association that could go a long way to address one of the objectives of SOAN which is doing business with consciousness to regulations and environment adding that she had no doubt that the crème of people she saw on the executives of SOAN would do just that.
“And that it is the only way we can compete favourably with foreigners who are taking the business from us here and then we won’t have any course to indict NNPC for seemingly biased to charter their vessels because vessel chartering has a lot to do with safety and insurance. I am glad that the crème of people I saw here will just be wary of this fact.
“As a competent ports authority, I also want to say that we will like you to be recoursing with us before you charter your vessel because ports are built on the basis of Alzbee’s design and all these infrastructures you see in the ports cannot accommodate all draughts of vessels. So, we urge ship owners to be in touch with us and then we give them adequate parameters to go into all the port be they Warri, Port-Harcourt, Sapele and so on and that will make them relate their charter pattern to exactly the infrastructure that are available.
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