OMICRON VARIANT: MWUN Raises Alarm For Dockworkers Safety, Tasks Port Health To Step Up Crew Quarantine 

The Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) on Thursday,  cautioned the federal government to compel the Ministry of Health officials at the port terminals to step up surveillance and quarantine crew onboard vessels calling at the nation’s seaports over the third wave Omicron variant of Covid-19

 

The union maintained that workers at the seaports must be protected against any form of variant  thus the need for the government to ensure all preventive measures are put in place to monitor the health status of  foreign seafarers onboard ships.

 

Speaking with newsmen in Lagos, the President General of MWUN Comrade Adewale Adeyanju reiterated that the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and Port Health Services lack the sensitivity nature of the dreaded disease,saying both agencies  have failed to carry out aggressive campaign awareness programme for port users and workers on the spread of  COVID-19.

 

Adeyanju noted that during the 2020 global lockdown, there were cases of COVID-19 infection at two of the terminals in Lagos, saying despite those affected by coronavirus,  dockworkers were free and safe  while at work.

 

The President General, urged the port health workers to synergize with management of NPA on the best way out of curbing the spread of variant at the ports pointing out that no worker should board any ship that has not been quarantine by concerned authorities.

 

He called on dockers to ensure that the port health workers have confirmed that the crew onboard the vessels are free from the omicron variant before embarkment.

 

According to him, those affected during the lockdown in 2020 , were taken good care by the concessionaires but warned that the third wave is much more deadlier.

 

“The protection, welfarism of our members is paramount and now another variant is up in the air . I keep on saying that the Port Health officials under the Nigerian Ports Authority should wake up this time around because as we were able to tackle the first wave so also we should do same on this.

 

“This second stage could be dangerous than the first one because of the ships calling at our ports from the western world. They should apply the same method that they used in the first one.”

 

He said crew onboard ships must be properly quarantine before any form of embarkment by dockworkers adding that evidence of clean bill of health must be presented to the workers before operational activities can commence on the vessel.

 

“We are calling on management of NPA to direct the Port Health Services to wake and be proactive on how to ensure  preventive and protective measures for vessels calling to the ports.”

 

He also called on the safety departments of the concessionaires to also ensure that adequate measures are put in place to curb the spread of the omicron variant from the ports.

 

 

By Roland Ekama