Stakeholders List Problems Of Eastern Ports

Stakeholders at the Port
Harcourt Pilotage District have identified insecurity, bad roads, high charges, low draft and hydrographic survey as part of problems inhibiting Eastern Ports operations.
The stakeholders stated this during the stakeholders meeting on ways to attract patronage to Eastern ports, held in Port Harcourt on yesterday.
According to them, other problems include delay in turn-around of ships multiple agencies, lack of facilities by operators, labour union demands unnecessary bureaucracy in documentation, lack of manpower skills, among others.
Speaking at the event, the Director, Commercial Shipping Services, Nigeria Shippers Council, Dabney Shall-Holma, who was also the chairman of the occasion, noted that the meeting was aimed at identifying the problems affecting poor patronage of the Eastern ports while there are port congestions at the Western ports and to proffer solution that would address the identified  problems.
The chairman posited that the problems listed and recommendations made would be channeled to the appropriate quarters for immediate attention.
On the challenges facing the concessionaries and other port operators, the stakeholders decried epileptic power supply, cost of running diesel, freight differential between Lagos and Port Harcourt Ports, bad roads, Dockworkers high demand and piracy among others.
Stakeholders that attended the meeting include PTOL terminal, BUA terminal, Intels, Brawal, MAN, NACCIMA, Shippers Associations Port Managers of Onne / Port Harcourt Ports Oil & Gas free zone Authority, NIMASA, Nigeria Customs Service, Bonny Channel Management, Nigerian Navy, Nigerian Police and Nigerian Immigration Service.