Barge Operators Reinstate Commitment To Prioritize Free Flow Of Export , Condemns Attack On NPA Facilities

Barge Operators Association of Nigeria (BOAN) has reaffirmed its commitment to ensure that export bound commodities are given topmost priority to access the seaports through the waterways, as parts of efforts to tackle delay of perishable items along the port corridors

BOAN also revealed that issues bothering on charges will soon be resolved , as plans are ongoing to engage the Nigerian Shippers’Council on the need to regulate cost of consignments ferried by barges along the inland waterways.

Vice President of the association, Otunba Olubunmi Olumekun disclosed this to newsmen on Wednesday, shortly after a brief meeting with management of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) in Lagos.

BOAN courtesy visit was part of solidarity support on the recent attack by hoodlums on the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) corporate headquarters in Marina, Lagos.

Olumekun assured stakeholders that price regulation on consignment will soon be a thing of the past ,noting that barge operation has come to stay in the maritime industry.

According to him, moves are ongoing to ease the free flow export commodities as a veritable tool to boost revenue generation of the federal government.

He lamented that Nigerian exports have suffered setbacks in time past due to the deplorable conditions of the port corridors, stressing that members of the association have agreed to prioritize export bound cargoes .

He said emphasis would be given to exportation more than importation in terms of barge operations noting that the introduction of barging was aimed to promote export considering the deplorable condition of the port corridors.

The Vice President said”We are engaging the Nigerian Shippers Council on the need to fine-tune charges associated with barge operations.

“Barging has come to stay because it’s a mean of transportation and we have various means of transportation in which water transportation is one of them.

“In advance countries of the world, water transportation plays key role to boost trade facilitation .

He also called on the federal government to invest immensely to boost water transportation as alternative to road , pointing out that delay of export commodities along the port corridors would soon be a thing of the past.

The Vice President, while reacting on the arson on NPA facility under the guise of #ENDSARS protest condemned the attack , stressing that part of the visitation was to show solidarity support.

“We need to give them our own moral support as stakeholders and that is why we are here to visit the agency and I must say that the property belong to us all of us and what the hoodlums did to this facility is not proper .

“We will continue to support management of NPA despite the crucial time we are in. We will continue to appreciate management of NPA under Hadiza Bala Usman for her performances so far.”, Olumekun stated .

It would be recalled that stakeholders in the maritime industry have called on the federal government to regulate and control charges of water transportation.

 

 

By Roland Ekama