Harboursandport.com: Lagos --- Operators in the
eastern and delta port zone of the maritime industry have blamed government
neglect to the ports in these areas for the idleness of the ports and not the shallow
nature of the channels.
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| National President of ANLCA, Tony Iju Nwabunike |
In an exclusive
chat with Harboursandport.com, National President of the Association of Nigeria
Licensed Customs Agents, ANLCA, Tony Iju Nwabunike, said the issue with the
ports remains the freight differential.
According to
Nwabunuke, “If you are coming from China, some are saying it is between $2,500
to $3,500 for a 20 foot container and $4000 to $5000 for a 40 foot
container.
“If they can
actually sail in at the same rate or bring it a little bit down, people will
now say, okay because of one thousand dollars they can go to eastern ports and
do the business.
“I think the
customers, that is, the importers will use those areas. The point is that every
single customer wants a situation where he can do his business cheaper, that’s
the truth.
“Yes, that was
then because if you look at what is happening in Calabar Port, Calabar port has
a very good draft, even the area 1 in Port Harcourt have a very good draft,
Warri has a very good draft, those areas too have really good draft to welcome
any vessel or any sister vessel that wants to come in.
“But the issue
is, just like I told you, is not about draft or shallowness of the channel but
actually the freight and supply and demand issue which is actually militating
against it.
Similarly, the Chairman of the Shippers Association of
Cross River State, SACRS, Michael
Ogodo, who is in agreement with Nwabunike, said government does not have the
interest of the industry at heart.
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| Chairman of the Shippers Association of Cross River State, SACRS, Michael Ogodo |
In his words, “The federal government
is not even concentrating on the issues of Apapa if not; the roads would have been
planned before now. Their pressure is that they want to be giving revenue
targets to Customs. Customs generated one trillion, three trillion, five
trillion, but they are not interested about issues like this is on ground.
“Yes, what I think government should do is to have partnership
with shipping liners. Tahe shipping trade from Singapore or China for example, China
to Apapa wharf, it can then pass from China to Warri, the same charges from
China to Calabar, not saying that Calabar will pay extra $3,000 or $2,000.
“The
second issue is that they need to encourage those areas with sophisticated
facilities and other less incentives like charges, terminal charges and all the
rest of them.”
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