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Association Faults Manager’s Claim On Ports’ Utilisation

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The Association of Indigenous Importers and Exporters in
Niger Delta (AIIEND), has faulted a statement by the Port Manager, Port
Harcourt Port, Mr. Oladele Alabi that the Eastern Ports are not under –
utilised.

The Association had also declared as untrue his statement
that it is cheaper to import through the Eastern Ports than the Western ports,
describing the statements as misleading, false and un-true.

The President of the body, Mr. Somiari Prince Halliday made
this remarks while reacting to statements made by the Port Manager during the
visit of the House of Representative Committee on Marine Transports tour to the
port as part of their oversight functions recently.

Mr. Halliday said they are not surprised that such a
statement could come from Mr. Alabi, whom they alleged is happy seeing the
Eastern Ports crumble at the expense of the Western Ports.

According to him, the Port manager should be ashamed of
himself that he is in-charge of a Port without a tug boat nor pilot workers and
even security boat, pilot quarters, access road and other facilities to enhance
terminal operations for vessels to come to the Port, adding that the Port
lacked those facilities that attracts Port users friendly.

He noted that the statement was a calculated attempt to
render Eastern Ports redundant and make the economy boom for the Eastern ports
to depend more on the Western economy.

The Association however noted that the role of the Nigerian
Ports Authority (NPA) is to ensure the operation and function of all ports to
attract importers and Exporters alike, and also frowned over the non-uniformity
of duties and freight charges as some service providers at the Ports charges
higher than others, thereby encouraging Port users to look for where the
charges are low.

The President wondered also that if the operations of the
customs and Excise differs at different ports, and appealed to the new managing
Director of NPA, Alhaji Habibi Abdullahi to ensure that all Nigeria – bound
vessels are distributed equitable across board instead of the congestion at the
Eastern Ports.

The Association however called for the sacking of the Port
Manager of Port Harcourt Port for his inability to revive the Port as other
Ports.

It accused the former managing Director of NPA, Alhaji
Suleiman Umar of reducing the Eastern Ports to mere transit camps instead of
making them work at full capacity despite huge capital and lease fee by
operators, and urged the new management to rise up to the challenges by
ensuring that Eastern Ports work in full capacity.

“Most of the challenges faced in the Eastern ports were not
too difficult to address but were text un-attended because of Politics”.
“Issues such as access roads that are in state of disrepair, proper dredging of
the channels to allow bigger vessels to come in, the inability of NPA
management to rehabilitate Port Harcourt Port and other ports since inception
unlike Lagos Ports that are being rehabilitated on regular basis formed part of
the reasons the Ports in the East have been under- utilized”, Mr. Halliday
said.

The Association further alleged that ports in the East
suffered more redundancy under the administration of Suleiman Omar, despite the
fact that he served last as Port manager in the East before his appointment as
managing Director of NPA two years ago, and pledged their support and loyalty
to the new management.

 

Collins Barasimeye

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Maritime

Fall Off Container Crushes Woman To Death

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Tragedy struck on Friday, when a fully loaded 40ft container fell from a Mack truck and crushed a woman to death along Lagos, Ibadan Expressway.
The Tide gathered  that the Mack truck was on high speed when the incident occurred around NNPC inward Alapere, Ogudu, along Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
A statement made available to our correspondent in Lagos by the Director, Public Affairs and Enlightment Department of Lagos State traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), Mr. Adebayo Taofiq, said a fully loaded 40ft Mack articulated truck fell on a Nissan car with registration number ABJ 692BG and instantly killed a woman at the rear of the car, while the car driver survived unhurt with the support of LASTMA officials.
Taofiq confirmed that the driver of the Mack articulated truck with his motor-boy ran away immediately the fatal accident occurred.
He said, according to preliminary investigation, the truck while on a high speed lost control as a result of a brake failure and rammed into a moving Nissan car on motion by N.N.P.C inward Alapere, Ogudu, along Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Lagos.
The rescue agencies at the scene of the crash were the LASEMA, Lagos State Ambulance Service (LASAMBUS), Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service and the Police.
Also at the accident scene were the LASTMA General Manager, Mr. Olalekan Bakare-Oki, LASTMA Director of Traffic Incidents, Event Monitoring, Enforcement and Compliance, Mr. Hakeem Adeosun, and the LASTMA rescue team.
General Manager of LASTMA, Mr. Olalekan Bakare Oki, however, warned motoring public, particularly truck drivers, to stop over speeding and ensure their vehicles are properly checked, including the braking system, before embarking on any journey within or outside the State.
The incident attracted passers-by, who thronged the scene lamenting the unfortunate incident, accusing men of the ports task force of negligence.

 

By: Nkpemenyie Mcdominic, Lagos

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PTML Customs Posts N66.92bn Revenue In First Quarter 2024

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The Port Terminal Multiservices Limited (PTML) Command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has presented an impressive revenue record collection for the first quarter of 2024.
According to the Command, it collected the sum of N66,920,181,586.30 as total revenue for the quarter of 2024, which is N22,198,965,809.55 higher than N44,721,215,776.75 collected between January and March 2023, representing 49.6 percent increase.
The Customs Area Controller (CAC) of the Command , Compt. Saidu Abba Yusuf, who described the increase in revenue collection as a laudable feat , said the Command is more committed towards trade facilitation and support government drive for ease of doing business.
Comptroller Yusuf, who thanked the Comptroller General of Customs (CGC), Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, for initiating strategies to achieve faster cargo clearance, reiterared that PTML Command under his watch aims to surpass its record of three hour cargo clearance for compliant traders.
According to Yusuf, the launching of time release study (TRS), which is ongoing, and other deliberate efforts by the Comptroller General have contributed in the expansion of terminal space and promoting ease of doing business in PTML.
He also disclosed that the PTML Command has potentials to achieve two hour cargo clearance and surpass its existing three hours record, if port users compliance level is improved upon.
Comptroller Yusuf, who described PTML as one of the safest and most secure environment for RoRo (Roll On Roll Off) and general cargoes, also advised importets and their agents to take advantage of the incentives available for compliant traders such as fast track, advance ruling and possible migration to the Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) status.
He reminded port users in PTML of the robust and time conscious dispute resolution mechanism, which has contributed immensely to the revenue collection, trade facilitation and anti smuggling functions of the Command.
While commending the various government and private sector stakeholders for their cooperation and support towards realisation of government goal of revenue collection and prevention of unlawful activities, Comptroller Yusuf expressed optimism that the Command will surpass its annual target for the year.

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Maritime

Customs Comptroller Lauds Scanning Officers Over Efficiency

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The Customs Area Controller (CAC) of Apapa Customs Command, Comptroller Babajide Jaiyeoba, has commended the officers of the Non Intrusive Inspection Technology Unit (NIITU) for their invaluable contributions to the overall success of the Command.
Comptroller Jaiyeoba, who was on an unscheduled visit to the scanner site, reminded the officers of the importance of team work as a strong basis to sustain the gains of compliance and revenue collection recently recorded by the Command.
According to a statement by the Public Relations Officer, Apapa Command, CSC Abubakar Usman, Comptroller Jaiyeoba thanked Deputy Comptroller, Salamatu Atuluku, the Officer in Charge of scanning site, and encouraged the unit not to be deterred by complaints coming from persons who were made to pay accurate duties to government after issuance of demand notices.
The Customs boss stated that no business person who is made to part with money will be happy with officers that refused compromising the ethics of their job.
He noted that “The main reason for me coming here is to appreciate you. I may not see you, but I have seen your work and I won’t keep quiet about what I have seen about your work. You are doing very well. I just want to encourage you to work as a team. If you don’t work as a team, you give room for outsiders to come in and when they come in, they divide you, and when they divide you, achieving success will be very difficult.
“Do your work without blemish. Once you keep your arm straight, you can stand before anybody. Your work as a Customs Officer is to ensure that you do the correct thing.
“For those of you doing intervention in the form of Demand Notice (DN), there is no body who part with money that will be happy with you. They will want to play intelligent by hiding somewhere. When you fetch them from their hiding place, they become your enemy.
Whatever they write about anybody here will still come down to me and if anybody works well, the onus on me is to defend such a person .
“Just have it at the back of your mind that you owe yourself the duty of doing your work diligently whether anyone comes around as a friend or enemy. It is not enough for you to rest. The reward for hard work is more work. These demands require sacrifice so that you can maintain the status”.

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