The Sea Empowerment and Research Centre, an independent research centre based in Lagos has released its week 3 report on the level of adherence to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Technical Note on Port Responsiveness in the fight against the invisible threat; Covid-19 at Lagos ports covering 13th to 17th April, 2020.
The UNCTAD Technical Note on Port Responsiveness in the fight against the invisible threat – Covid-19 include; respect for physical distancing, fumigate and disinfect all passenger terminals/areas, use of digital documentation and use of safety and protective equipment.
Speaking in a statement issued in Lagos on Monday, the Director General of the Centre, Mr. Francis Uchechukwu Aniezechukwu reiterated that the aim of the research which according to him had spanned through the last three weeks was to draw the attention of the various port regulatory agencies namely; the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) and other port stakeholders to the low level of compliance to the UNCTAD Technical Note on Port Responsiveness in the fight against the invisible threat; Covid-19 for the third consecutive survey at the Lagos ports.
On the level of adherence to social distancing in port terminals, port areas and outside offices at the various ports in Lagos, Aniezechukwu noted that the Centre scored Apapa port 60 percent, Tincan Island port 39 percent while PTML terminal and Kirikiri Lighter Terminal scored 9 percent respectively.
According to him, “There is extremely poor level of compliance inside the port terminals, port areas and outside port offices, less than 1 percent each.”
He also said that there was zero adherence to the use of personal protective equipment within the port as Apapa port scored 29 percent, Tincan Island port 39 percent, PTML terminal 69 percent and Kirikiri Lighter Terminal 79 percent.
On fumigation and disinfecting of terminals and outside offices, the DG noted that the PTML terminal improved on disinfecting of terminals, port areas and outside offices even as he scored it 69 percent while Apapa port, Tincan Island port and Kirikiri Lighter Terminal were rated 0 percent.
While admitting that there was fair implementation of the use of digital documentation, he however rated Apapa port at 25 percent, Tincan Island port 20 percent, PTML terminal 50 percent and Kirikiri Lighter Terminal 25 percent.
He further noted that as at 29th March, 2020, the total number of Covid-19 cases in Nigeria was 125, one death and three discharged stressing that as at 18th April, 2020, the total number of Covid-19 cases in the country had risen to 541 confirmed cases, 19 death and 166 discharged according to the statistics released by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).
“The invisible Covid-19 cases rose by a percentage of 23.1 in the last 20 days approximately 21 cases per day”, he added.
The Director General therefore surmised that from the research conducted, there was gross non-compliance to this rule noting that “this disease is deadly and growing at a deadly rate”, while calling on government agencies and stakeholders alike to take proactive step toward containing the spread of the virus at the nation’s seaport and protecting the health of the port users and operators so as to enhance the gain made so far from the ongoing port operation.
Photo: Director General, Sea Empowerment and Research Centre, Mr. Francis Uchechukwu Aniezechukwu.
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