President, Nigerian Importers Integrity Association (NIIA), Godwin Onyekazi, has frowned at the tradition of transferring overtime containers to off-dock facilities, especially the Ikorodu Lighter Terminal (IKLT) in Lagos.
Speaking against the backdrop of clamour by some clearing agents at Ikorodu for the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) to transfer overtime cargo to Ikorodu, Onyekazi said the nation’s seaports were operating below capacity, thereby cancelling the need to transfer cargo, as there were ample spaces to contain such consignments at the seaports.
“Port congestion was the reason for transfer of containers, but the present economic downturn has resulted in less than 40 percent yard occupancy in most terminals and has overruled the need for transfer of overtime cargo to Ikorodu,” he said.
Onyekazi, who said the maritime sector suffered a huge blow in 2016 given the high rate of foreign exchange vis-a-vis the decline in cargo volume, said businesses around the ports had closed down as an extension of low business.
Moving overtime containers, he observed, is also a means to boycott terminal procedures as owners of the containers avoid payment of the accrued terminal charges, thereby encouraging importers to abandon their cargo at the port with the aim of facilitating movement to Ikorodu in order to avoid charges.
According to Onyekazi, this also results to complete loss of revenue to terminal operators as the transfer allows importers to take the cargo without paying terminal handling cost, despite the costs incurred by operators that have financial obligations to the government.
He added that the transfer would only result in huge additional cost burden to government given that the logistics cost of moving the containers from the port to Ikorodu would be borne by the NPA.
“It results in additional handling of containers which comes with increased cost of doing business for terminal operators as well as likely claims from damages. There exists also the risk of loss of cargo to the consignee/importer due to allegations of diversion of cargo on transit from previous transfers and pilfering due to insecurity,” he said.
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) is more certain of collecting appropriate import duties on the containers at the main ports, he pointed out.
In his view, Emma Nwabunwanne, a Lagos-based importer, said importers whose containers were transferred to Ikorodu had in several cases suffered serious economic loss due to damages imposed on the goods in the containers as a result of double handling of the containers.
According to Nwabunwanne, the NPA needs to reduce the rate at which it transfers cargo to Ikorodu given the present economic downturn that has emptied the port creating spaces for overtime cargo. “Reducing the rate of cargo transfer would also limit the stress importers of such consignment pass through to clear their goods at the end,” he said.
Recall that the Senate in November 2016 highlighted the fact that transferred containers worth billions of naira had been abandoned to rot away daily, alluding to the fact that inadequate maintenance measures exist for the containers there. Therefore, moving even more containers will result in a sharper decline in the condition of containers and cargo, and lead to wastage.
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