As the management of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) gets set for the takeoff of the electronic call up system at the nation’s seaports, the Council of Maritime Truck Unions and Associations (COMTUA) has called on NPA to immediately deploy the system without further delay.
The Public Relations Officer, COMTUA, Alhaji Abdullahi Inuwa Mohammed who made this call in a chat with our correspondent in Lagos on Wednesday said that the truckers were now ready for the takeoff of the project so that it would reduce some other malpractice along the port corridor.
His words, “We are fully prepared waiting for them to see that electronic call up will come so that it will reduce some other malpractice along the port corridor. We do urge that it should no longer be delayed.”
While recalling that the NPA management did announce January as takeoff date for the electronic call up system, he further recalled that before now, it was only Apapa port that was running with manual call up while Tincan was not part of it.
He however disclosed that since this January, Tincan had commenced manual call up system even as he added that “as I am speaking with you, my trucks from my own garage have been able to exit from my garage to the Tincan garage through the use of the manual call up which was deployed by the NPA management.”
On whether the project would still be deployed this month as scheduled, Alhaji Mohammed who is the former Lagos State Vice Chairman, Dry Cargo section, NARTO said, “I believe that they are still fine tuning the process. We are still expecting them to fully deploy the electronic call up system any time soon. With the commencement of the manual call up system in Tincan, I think that whatever plan they have, it will be easier when the electronic call up system is deployed.”
Asked if the NPA management has adjusted some of the requirements to be met by the private park owners/operators for their park to be linked to the electronic call up system, he replied, “that is the change that we are seeing because all that they required before private parks could be given approval to run the electronic call up are being reconsidered hence the introduction of the manual call up to precede the electronic version in order to take care of the stakeholders concerns.”
He however noted that with the introduction of the manual call up in Tincan, things were better off even as he expressed concern over its sustainability such that due process is adhered to without undue preferential treatment.
“If we can continue with the manual call up, it will go a long way in solving the perennial gridlock along the port corridor”, he added.
On the effectiveness of the manual call up system in Tincan axis, he stated that “There was a day that they passed 161 trucks to proceed to the Tincan truck park through the manual call up and before the following morning, 131 trucks have gained entry into the port from the Tincan Truck Park which is a good development. This I confirmed from the management of the park. If such will continue, I believe it will be a success.
“If the terminals are working, it cannot take a truck more than one or two days to access the port from the Tincan truck park but the difficulty we are facing is that the shipping companies are into third party arrangement with the terminal operators. At times, the truck may be at the Tincan truck park but if the terminals are not receiving empty containers of a particular shipping company, they will remain in the park until the terminals get instruction from the shipping company to receive the containers. That is why we are having that challenge.
“The issue is that at times, some of the shipping companies’ empty containers are not allowed to be returned to the port and it is giving us so much difficulties because once those shipping companies cannot admit those empty containers, those trucks will remain at the park thereby taking the space of those that are supposed to come in at the time.”
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