Dockworkers numbering over 100 serving berths five, six, seven and eight (under BUA Ports and Terminal Limited) in Port Harcourt blocked the gates of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) in the Garden City demanding reopening of BUA section of the port.
The NPA said they had decommissioned berths five, six, and seven because BUA said they were unsafe, but BUA sources said they merely wrote asking for approval to repair the affected berths after some hoodlums vandalized them.
The situation had led to ships not berthing in BUA section in Port Harcourt and the workers not earning any income anymore. The about 78 regular BUA workers are said to face redundancy consequences including possibility of being turned into ‘contract staff’.
The protest was led by the national trustee, Tony Nwokocha, and the Rivers State chairman, Waite Harry, who shared leaflets detailing their grievances. They granted to interview to newsmen in which they threatened to shut down the ports in Nigeria if the NPA does not take a second look at their action.
The leaflets said: “We are dockworkers and we want to work; injury to one is injury to all dockworkers. We do not have any business other than ship work, and BUA Terminal is our source of livelihood. The disagreement between NPA and BUA should not affect dockworkers.
“NPA should please allow ships to discharge while resolving their issues with BUA at London Arbitration. BUA is creating jobs for youths and so BUA factories must be allowed to function. Over 14 ships are waiting to berth. Only four berths are working right now and cannot manage all the waiting ships.
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“Don’t cause tension and crisis in Port Harcourt Port; BUA Terminal is very safe for us to work. NPA should obey 2018 court order asking them to allow BUA to operate, else, the entire Port Harcourt will not work. Do not frustrate Nigerian businessmen and investors. NIMASA and Shippers Council should please intervene and save dockworkers, agents and importers. We will shut down all Nigerian ports if the NPA decision is not reversed.’
Some of the workers however gave newsmen deeper understanding of the crisis. BUA is at the London Arbitration with the NPA. A court ruled in 2018 that BUA should continue to operate while adjudication is ongoing. It is not clear if BUA thus is paying all the dues but a BUA source said NPA submits bills which BUA still pays.
The leaders said dockworkers have been badly hit, thus they embarked on protests. It was gathered that on June 17, 2019, NPA wrote to BUA decommissioning the berths, since then, there have been no vessels calling our berths (5, 6, 7).
The chairman added that dock workers are paid by tonnage; so if they do not have vessels to attend to, they do not have income. They would simply be out of action and would naturally become restless in the port area. “We want the NPA to allow ships to berth here.”
Businessday investigations within the dockworkers revealed that in 2014, it was observed that some hoodlums went underground to cut the pipes. This was reported to the landlords, the NPA, before making some arrests, though nothing came out of it.
Soon, they did it again, this time cutting the steel beam at the middle of berths. This can make the berth not to be very stable, though the beams are not the main pillars carrying the berths. BUA sources said the hoodlums were not after them (BUA).
It was gathered that later, arrests were made at nearby Abonnema. The suspects were prosecuted but BUA allegedly lost the case in February 2019 because they did not have the status of ‘owners’ since they were mere tenants and the owners (NPA) did not show any interest.
The dockworkers said BUA wrote the NPA requesting for approval to repair the berths but the next thing they saw was that NPA decommissioned the berths that they were not safe for operations.
Port sources said under normal circumstances, the NPA should write to request details such as cost, scope of work, and time needed. They would either approve or not approve. In this case, they simply decommissioned the berths and thus stopped BUA from working. A workers said; “It appeared as if stopping BUA was the main objective instead of getting the berths repaired. The decommissioning did not state what next or how long.”
The chairman said: “Vessels are waiting at sea with demurrage. We have 14 ships waiting with gypsum, wheat, bulk malt, POP, Caustic Soda, Tallow, PET Coke, PMS, Fish, AGO, Bitumen, and Containers. This is cost to consumers because everything eventually would pass to consumers. Port charges cause high costs to imported goods. All we need is to allow repairs and work to go on”
On the relationship between BUA and the NPA, a source said it is cordial, except a break in transmission has occurred. It was gathered that the only other terminal operator in PH, PTOL, is now under pressure to handle all vessels which have queued up. This is at a time Port Harcourt ought to relieve Lagos. Sources in BUA said the company did a lot to convince the shipping lines to move their vessels to deliver in PH port only for them to experience such ugly situation.
All stakeholders have thus appealed to BUA and the NPA to move quickly and resolve the issues to allow free flow of port operations nationwide.
Meanwhile, the House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee on Ports & Habours led by Yusuf Buba Yacub, which was in the eastern region to on fact finding mission on why eastern ports are not working well, paid huge attention to the BUA/NPA matter and protests and threats of dockworkers.
Sources said the objective was to resolve the matter and allow free flow of port operations in Nigeria. Sources in both the NPA and BUA expressed optimism that lasting solution seemed around the corner.
