Barely one month after the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has issued a 7 day ultimatum to the shipping companies to publish the location of their holding bays for empty containers in some of the national dailies for the information of the stakeholders or face sanction, the directive is yet to be obeyed, Primetime Reporters can authoritatively report.
An investigation carried out by this medium showed that trucks carrying empty containers rather return them to the supposed holding bays still line up the roads leading to the ports in a bid to return them to the ports.
A look along the roads, one still see trucks queuing up from Apapa to Niger Motors, inside Apapa to Costain and from Tincan second gate up to Mile 2, all heading to the ports rather than heading to the holding bays.
Speaking to our correspondent on the matter, the Secretary, Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN), Mr. Godwin Ikeji noted that they were not aware of any enforcement or any shipping company implementing that directive for now.
On claims by some shipping companies that they have holding bays with 10,000 TEU capacity, Mr. Ikeji said,” I want to start by clarifying one point. We are talking of functional holding bays; Nigeria is not a dumping ground for empty boxes. Even if Nigeria is a dumping ground, Lagos doesn’t have the capacity or space.
“For now, we know about 2009/2010 when we had this kind of issue, the only functional holding bay we had then was Vicoma, every other place was just a dumping ground. We had a report that time, I learnt that the same committee is going about the same investigation now but which holding bay can operate now on our road? When the ships come and they are asked to bring in empties, which road? And while may be PIL may have a functional holding bay, if all other twenty and thirty shipping companies block the road, how would they perform?
“So, maybe MSC may say they have, Vicoma may say they have, it is not enough for us, it is nothing to write home about and I maintain, functional holding bays, not where to dump empty containers but where empty containers may come in and leave there so that there will be space. If it is not functional, while they dump it there, within two days, everything will be jam-packed and everywhere will be blocked up and that will be the end of that”.
While commending the Managing Director of NPA, Ms Hadiza Bala Usman for her courage in issuing the directive, he however wondered how far she could go to achieve this knowing that cabals were holding the economy of this nation to ransom.
“She is determined to enforce it but I wonder what the cabals have in stock. I wonder what the other stakeholders have in stock, the shipping lines. These are international mafias, they are not purely Nigerians. Some of them have their security details yet to be known. So, I look at this thing as even an economic sabotage. But she is trying but I wonder if she can make it”, he added.
On his part, the Vice Chairman, Dry Cargo section of the National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO), Alhaji Abdullahi Inuwa Mohammed recalled that the Managing Director of NPA during the stakeholders’ meeting had ordered the shipping companies to publish the location of their holdings bays in some of the national dailies but regretted that up till now, no one has seen any such publication neither have they sent them to the transport unions as directed.
He said,” As you can see, the trucks are still on queue to the port and if you can remember that as far back as November 17, 2017, the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo gave that directive and nothing has been done. Again, on the 9th of February, 2018, the MD of NPA gave this marching order, giving them one week ultimatum to publish in the national dailies the location of their holding bays and they are yet to comply.
“Today, the public has known that the cause of the traffic in the entire Lagos is the failure of the shipping companies to provide holding bays for their empties because it is extending to other places like Ajegunle, Kirikiri, Western Avenue to Funso Williams and down to Eko Bridge and Iddo”.
The NARTO chieftain recalled that drivers had been complaining that many of them could no longer take care of their families, pay children’s school fees and take care of other basic needs of their families as most of them now spend about ten days to fourteen days on the port access road trying to return empty containers adding that after their allowances which they would use up on the road, there was nothing left to take home.
“They demanded that it is either we increase their allowances or they will no longer work. That is better for them to stay without work than working and seeing nothing to show for it”, he said.
On the way forward, he said,” If they really mean this thing, they should set up a strong task force to monitor the activities of the shipping companies as well as that of the terminal operators because they are making a lot of money at the expense of Nigerians because trucks that fail to return empty containers, it acquires demurrage”.
Attempts to get the reaction of the NPA proved abortive as nobody including the General Manager Corporate and Strategic Communication, NPA, Abdullahi Goje was available for comments as at the time of filing this report.
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