Freight Forwarders, Truckers Finger Shipping Companies Over Apapa Gridlock
Freight forwarders, truckers have fingered shipping companies as the key factor causing the gridlock experience at Apapa ports.
This is coupled with extortion from security agencies, and poor access roads.
The maritime stakeholders who deliberated at the second series of a stakeholder forum focused on resolving the gridlock in Apapa on Wednesday in their separate submissions asked the Lagos Task Team on Law and Order in Apapa to intervene in the matter.
Deputy President Council of Maritime Truck Unions and Associations, Okafor Stephen berated Shipping Lines for failing to provide holding bays for storing containers. This is after he accused the Lagos State Government of sidelining truckers from the taskforce.
He said, “The enforcement team on ground is not working with us and our businesses are suffering. One of the causes of the problems is the absence of holding bays. A lot of things need to be done along that Tin-Can axis. The construction by Hi-Tech is taking a long time. If that road is ready, it will go a long way in curbing traffic along the corridor. There is also the issue of insufficient transit parks along the access corridor.”
Stephen also asked that Lilypond be fixed and reopened for business.
Chairman, Association of Maritime Truck Owners, Remi Ogungbemi who spoke at the forum said the truckers do not need a task force but a conducive environment for operations. Similarly, a member of AMATO said from Ijora down to Apapa, he identified over 16 checkpoints, extorting monies from truckers.
A member of the Logistics Practitioners of Nigeria, Godwin Ikeji asked the Task Team to route a request to the Nigerian government directing shipping companies to take 3,000 Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit out of the ports
He said, “Who are the shipping companies? What is happening inside the ports? That is where our problem starts. Sir, let the Nigerian government direct all shipping lines to take away from this country 3,000 TEUs. If every shipping line take their empty containers from Nigeria, everywhere will clear up.”
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A representative of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders, Umeadi Emmanuel said shipping companies have used the port environment as its dumping ground.
He said, “The problem we have is man-made. The shipping companies use our country as dumping grounds. They are not interested in removing their containers.”
According to Emmanuel, shipping companies make money from demurrage and use the truckers as their temporary holding bays. He asked that the Nigerian Shippers’ Council as well as the shipping companies be present at their next deliberation.
A director at the Nigerian Ports Authority representing the managing director, Hadiza Bala-Usman, said trucks should drop their containers in a holding bay or risk sanction.
The director, Dubowaiye Ayodele, promised to look into the complaints of the stakeholders by sanctioning shipping lines who do not comply with laid down policies.
He noted that shipping companies can be denied a ship entry notice which would stop it from bringing vessels into the country.
Responding, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Transportation, Oluwatoyin Fayinka, said his decision to toll errant vehicles still stands. He advised truckers to keep themselves off the road till they are called into the ports. He also tasked trucks to stay off the road and stop causing a nuisance on the Lagos roads.
He said, “Trucks that don’t have business coming into Apapa should stay off. Bridges are not built as parking lots and mechanics workshop. You cannot engage mechanics on the road and pour oil that will put the road in a deplorable situation.
“I am not meant to collect bribe from anyone, I collect my salary. I am to ensure that the roads are free for everyone.”
Fayinka said the first step of implementation is these series of engagement and he had met with Shippers’ Council as well as the truckers. He said the terminal operators and shipowners will be next.
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