NAFFAC Seeks Government Intervention To Designate Berths For Barging Operations

The Nigerian Association of Air Freight Forwarders and Consolidators (NAFFAC)  has   harped on the need for the federal government to approve designated points for barges to lift cargoes in and out of existing terminals at the two seaports in Lagos.

 

President General of NAFFAC , Prince Adeyinka Bakare , made this known during a chat with newsmen in Lagos on Wednesday.

 

Bakare reiterated that barging activities within the Lagos seaports have failed to address the lingering gridlock along the corridor due to temporary operations at the existing terminals.

 

According to him,ships calling at the terminals most times frustrate barging activities because management of the terminals would stop all barging operations for the vessels to berth.

 

This process , he lamented creates setback and bottleneck for cargoes to exit or enter the terminal smoothly.

 

He further called on management of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) to look inward and create designated points at all the terminals where barging operations exist adding that traffic along the corridors can only be surmountable when there would be free flow of consignments through intermodal system of transportation.

 

 

He said :”Probably as we speak there is no terminal that approve a portion of the berths for barging activities and I think its long overdue for such to be approved .

 

“Once a cargo laden vessel is set to berth at the terminal, all barging activities are suspended and this has not helped in anyway to facilitate trade couple with porous condition of the roads.

 

“As long as the vessel is there , no barge operations can take place again and we want the government to look into this issue and engage  the concessionaires on the need to  designate some portion of the quay apron for barges to berth and discharge or load consignments despite the fact that the ship is also at berth.

 

Speaking on the call up system, he said”Up on the commencement of the ETO system recorded 3,000 entry but in two weeks time the number rose to about 15,000 of unprocessed ETO and these are some of the things that may not be able to address the traffic madness on our roads because the capacity is not there to drive the application effectively.

 

Bakare who is the Chief Executive Officer, De- Potter Nigeria Limited also expressed disappointment over the E-Call up system introduced by NPA, pointing out that traffic would continue to linger apparently due to lack of infrastructure .

 

While calling on promoters of the deep seaport in Lekki to expedite actions for the possible completion, the NAFFAC boss maintained that traffic can be reduce upon the commencement of the new seaports.

 

 

 

“The terminal operators are complaining of congestion because of the slow pace movement of consignments in and out of the ports.

 

He also lauded efforts by the leadership of Barge Operators Association of Nigeria (BOAN) for engaging stakeholders on safety measures for cargo movement on the waterways  , pointing out that in the last two years, accident on the inland waters leading to huge losses of consignments was at its barest minimal.

 

Bakare maintained that accident on the waterways was inevitable but added that the association was able to sensitise its members on pre requisite knowledge of such operations.

 

By Roland Ekama