Oyetola Expresses Dissatisfaction Over Limited Scanners At Seaports

To Engage Customs Over Abandonment Of 6,000 Overtime Cargoes

The Minister of Marine and Blue Economy,  Adegboyega Oyetola on Wednesday , expressed dissatisfaction over the abandonments of over 6,000 consignments at the Lagos Ports Complex (LPC)  and Tin Can Island Port respectively.

The Minister affirmed  that the Nigeria Customs Service will engaged on the best way to evacuate such consignments in furtherance to decongest the port terminals.

The Minister who disclosed this during his maiden  visit to management of the Nigerian Shipper’s Council (NSC) in Lagos , assured that he would engage the leadership of Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) on the issue in a bid to evacuate the overtime cargoes and address other bottlenecks.

He also frowned at the low number of scanners available for cargo examination at the port terminals adding that physical examination process embarked upon by security agencies would not encourage trade facilitation and revenue drive of the government.

Oyetola stated that the Ministry would work round  the clock towards ensuring that the containers are evacuated to encourage trade facilitation.

According the Minister, long bureaucratic processes and corruption are some factors that have elongated cargo clearance time thereby frustrating shippers and leading to the jettisoning of containers at ports.

The Minister of Marine and Blue Economy:“I was told that some of these abandoned cargoes have been there since 2011. Why should we have cargoes dumped for that long. We would engage Customs to see how to evacuate these cargoes and prevent that from reoccurring.”

“Marine and Blue Economy has always been there but we are just beginning to look at it in a more coordinated manner”

“This Marine and Blue Economy evolves around economic growth, improved standard of living and employment. I am charging us to be more creative by seeing ourselves as civil servants in business,” the Minister said.

Oyetola stated that he was impressed with the accomplishments of NSC in recent years even as he promised to partner the agency in tackling the issues highlighted as requiring urgent actions.

By Roland Ekama