The rising energy cost, naira devaluation, and high rate of inflation are factors that justify the need for upward review of terminal operators’ charges, said Kayode Farinto, a former acting national president of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA).
According to him, the increase in prices of fuel and the rise in the exchange rate of the Naira to the dollar have also increased costs for the terminal operators.
“We are in an era where one cannot predict the dollar and these people are rendering services; so, it becomes inevitable for them to increase their own charges. Nobody should be criticised for that. I want to commend them because they took their time before they did this,” he said.
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Farinto however charged the Federal Government to repair the dilapidated port access roads to reduce the hardship faced by importers and their agents.
“Government has failed in their responsibility ab initio to even provide the services they supposed to provide. It was in the concession agreement that the government will provide electricity 24/7 but this has not been made available. It is still the same terminal operators that are providing electricity.
“It is high time we defined the port area to avoid having miscreants encroach on the port area. The government needs to delineate the port area starting from Ijora and from Mile 2. After delineating the port area, they will also do geo-fencing so as to monitor the port area. These are the things the government needs to put in place so that the properties of people are secured,” he said.
Farinto urged the Federal Government to also remove the dollarisation of collecting money from terminal operators, especially at this time of high exchange rate.
He said making payments in scarce dollars compels terminal operators to also transfer the increase to storage charges.
“This government should fulfill their promise to us. They told us they were going to cushion the effect of the hardship experienced by the people. If I were the government now, part of the mitigant is to make sure that any terminal operator that wants to pay should be allowed to pay the equivalent of naira and not pay in dollars, which is not predictable now,” he said.
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He also commended the government for lifting the forex ban on 43 items, which could hitherto not access foreign exchange on the official market adding that the ban caused inflation and encouraged false declaration of cargo at the port.
