As stakeholders hail NPA sanction of erring shipping companies
Following the recent sanction imposed on erring shipping companies by the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), the Shippers’ Association Lagos State (SALS) has pleaded with NPA to be liberal in dealing with the shipping companies as they have opened frank discussions with the stakeholders.
The president of SALS, Rev. Dr. Jonathan Nicol who made this plea in a chat with Primetime Reporters in Lagos recently while acknowledging that NPA was hard on the shipping companies however thanked the Authority for coming out to say that it would sanction erring shipping companies and it did even as he imagined lost incurred by the shipping lines for not discharging for ten days that the sanction lasted.
He said,” If any shipping company operates outside the concession agreement, it’s a breach and I think the shipping companies are now getting their holding bays according to the concession agreement. It’s not an overnight thing, it’s something that will take some time, they have to look for available space commensurate to the volume of cargo that they have.
“So, we still believe that based on that, NPA should be little liberal on them since we are now discussing frankly with ourselves. Now, NPA did not mince words, they were really hard on them and we really thank them for coming out to say that they would sanction erring shipping companies and they did and of course, you know that will cost the shipping lines a whole lot of money, for not discharging for ten days.
“So, we think the kind of sanction should have been something that go along with the trend, that as you drop the container, you must have a holding bay to take your empty. If they had checkmated them from the beginning, I don’ think we would have the kind of problem that we have now. So, NPA is right because you cannot breach the rule of engagement”.
Meanwhile, a former Chairman of the International Freight Forwarders Association (IFFA), Mr. Ojo Peter Akintoye has hailed the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) for its boldness in sanctioning erring shipping companies who failed to procure holding bays as required of them in their concession agreement.
While positing that the action came late as he had expected it earlier before now, Akintoye observed NPA has his full support in the recent action adding that any shipping line that was not ready to get holding bay should close up as according to him, “that is even another problem that we are facing, it is part of the terms and conditions of the contract that they signed”.
“They are now hiding under the bad road that we have as a reason for not to have holding bays outside the ports but I also tell them that that is not an excuse because there is less traffic at night and they can move their empty containers at night, there is no doubt about that. Our 24 hours port operation is not working yet, so, it is an opportunity for them to move containers at night if the ships are available. Also, Saturdays and Sundays, you have less traffic in Apapa, they can as well utilize it”, he added.
On his part, the Lagos State Vice Chairman, Dry Cargo Section, National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO), Alhaji Abdullahi Inuwa Mohammed revealed that the sanction did not come to him as a surprise as according to him, the Managing Director of NPA was a woman that was doing a wonderful job even he added that she had been doing things that others before her were not able to do.
“The same MD was the one who sanctioned INTELS, if it comes to shipping companies that have taken laws into their hands, that they cannot obey the law, it is not a surprise because I know what the MD can do. If she can do that to INTELS, then there is nobody she cannot sanction despite the fact that they have the backing of the Presidency”, he said.
Photo: Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Ms Hadiza Bala Usman.
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