An Importer, Mr
Chukwuemeka Egwuonu, on Monday blamed the Federal Government’s new import policy for being the major cause of the rising cost of goods in the country.
Egwuonu made the blame in Calabar while fielding questions with journalists on the current economic situation in the country as part of the celebration of 15 years of unbroken democracy.
He said that in addition to the increase in import charges, the new policy was also creating delays in clearing of goods at the ports.
“The current import policy in the country affects our business in terms of prices. Before, we used about N1.3 million to clear a container. “But now, there is an addition of over N600,000 which raises it to between N1.8 million and N1.9 million to clear a container .“So, what we do is to split the increased charges on the goods and the masses bear the burden,” he said.
He said, in terms of easy clearing of goods, it has become worse now than before because the Nigeria Customs Service has taken over the duties of the agencies that were operating in the ports.
“But may be because there was no smooth transition, the agencies that were handling the process well did not want the customs to know the process. “So these lapses are causing a lot of delays in the clearing processes.
Egwuonu said that there was the need for government to explore all channels before coming out with policies that would affect the masses.
He advised that whenever government wanted to embark on any major policy decision that affects the masses, there should be a kind of gradual process,’’ he said.
He remarked that importers were making more money now than before but regretted that this was at the expense of the masses.
“As importers we make more money now because of the process but this boils down to the masses, they are the ones suffering it. “I can tell you that I make more profit now than before but I have sympathy for my fellow citizens. So, I am not happy that things are going that way,” Egwuonu said.