Joint Committee of Licensed Customs Agents and Freight Forwarders moves to decongest road
The Joint Committee of Licensed Customs Agents and Freight Forwarders has initiated moves to find a lasting solution to the perennial traffic gridlock within the ports access roads that has seemingly become intractable.
The committee took a trip along the PTML TICT Terminals road and lamented the huge losses that they incur because of the.traffic situation within the area and around all ports and terminals.
The team led by Prince Segun Oduntan of ANLCA and Chief Azubuike Ekweozor of NAGAFF also visited the port manager at TICT to bare their minds on the matter.
The committee also made a conference call to the task forcej traffic decongestion chairman, Mr. Kayode Opeifa who promised to swing into immediate action. While speaking to press men after the tour, the Tin Can port public relations officer of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents, Emmanuel Onyeme noted that the traffic congestion has caused so much hike in the cost of moving cargoes that it costs about Seven Hundred Thousand Naira to move a container from TICT to PTML, a distance of about two kilometers and also costs about One Million, Five Hundred Thousand Naira to move a container from same area to Ikeja in Lagos. He compared the cost of moving a container from the ports to Ikeja with what it costs to bring in same container from Europe or South Africa and concluded that the costs are the same as he decried the situation.
On his part, Tin Can port public relations officer of National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders, Stanley Ejiogu said that the two major Associations have decided to take the bull by the horn as they all came out by 5.00am to try and resolve the matter, he noted that the regulator of shipping activities in Nigeria, the Nigerian Shippers Council has failed in her duty as it cannot call the shipping companies and terminal operators to order.
The chairman of the Association of the Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents, Tin Can port chapter, Prince Segun Oduntan noted that the situation has been become rather unbearable there by necessitating the coming together of the two major Associations to try and tackle the problem. He noted that the NSC should have a desk at each ports to monitor all activities. He said that shipping companies in most cases will import One thousand containers, but go back with less that a hundred thereby making the country a dumping ground for empty containers.
The Tin Can port chapter chairman of NAGAFF, High Chief Azubuike Ekweozor noted that the Nigeria Ports Authority and the Nigerian Shippers Council have neglected to do their jobs as he accused NPA officials of collecting money from truckers and compounding the traffic congestion, he hopes that the promise made by the chairman of the presidential task force on traffic decongestion, Mr. Kayode Opeifa to quickly swing into action will have immediate effect.