The Anambra State Shippers’ Association has said that high import tariffs and incessant checks by Customs were the causes of neglect of Onne Port by importers from South-East and South-South.
The President of the association, Mr Emma Akpaka, who made the disclosure in an interview with newsmen in Onitsha, Anambra State, on Saturday.
Akpaka decried the dwindling fortunes of the Onne Port said importers from the South-East preferred Lagos port because of the tariffs on goods at Onne Port.
“We are not progressing for the fact that what you use in clearing a container in Lagos Ports is far less than what you use in clearing same in Onne Port in Rivers State.
“For instance, if you use N600,000 to clear a container in Lagos port; you are likely to spend over one million to clear the same container in Onne Port.
“After this, few kilometres outside the port, precisely at Isiokpo in Rivers State, you will be stopped by Customs Task Force for another round of check.
“Again, in Owerri, you will be stopped by the Federal Operations Unit of Customs as well as those within the Bridge-Head axis of Onitsha on the same goods cleared by customs.
“All these things and more had made our people to prefer Lagos ports as if we do not know that Onne Port should primarily serve the South-East, especially traders in Aba and Onitsha,” he said.
Akpaka urged the Federal Government to resuscitate the Area 1 Port in Port Harcourt to decongest Onne Port in future.
“Again, the Warri port in Delta State is lying unattended to.
“Millions of naira and the job creation capacity that should be the fallouts of the Warri port are being denied the port communities in Delta,” Akpaka said.
It would be recalled that the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) recently held a sensitisation workshop for importers in major cities of the South-East.
The workshop had to do with the new Nigeria Trade Hub; Pre-Arrival Assessment Report (PAAR); and the Customs Helpdesk; all meant to facilitate shipment of goods at the ports.