PORT CONCESSION : TWEAN Berates Terminal Operators Over Congestion

Shippers under the aegis of Tropical Wood Exporters Association of Nigeria (TWEAN) on Monday, expressed worries over  the current  congestion rocking the nation’s seaports , saying port concession have hindered exportation of Nigerian products oversea.

 

The group of exporters further faulted the federal government policy of port   concession of 2006, due to the bottlenecks faced by shippers in the last thirteen years.

 

President of TWEAN, Mr. Omotayo Omotoye in an exclusive chat with DAILYFOCUS NEWS ONLINE, in Lagos, alleged that most of the terminals are currently battling with congestion due to poor and obsolete equipment at their disposal.

 

Primarily, the TWEAN boss attributed the traffic faced by shippers and stakeholders to negligence on the part of the concessionaires, adding that the deplorable condition of the roads was secondary.

 

The shipper lamented that lack of handling equipment in possession of the concessionaires created wide vacuum for operators to pay additional charges in an attempt to export Nigerian goods abroad.

 

Omotoye alleged that, between the month of June and July 2019, the railway system could not accommodate containers at APM.Terminal due to congestion, adding that movement of boxes via rail network was suspended as a result of the poor facilities on ground.

 

According to him, the gridlock along the port corridors can be attributed to the concessionaires’ negligence adding that the federal government policy of port concession failed to yield the expected results.

 

“Recently, the movement of boxes via rail network was halted due to the fact that there’s no space inside the terminal; that’s APM T and you will agree with me that the rail system has nothing to do with the bad roads that some people claimed to be the problem at the port.

 

“The truth is that port concession has failed completely”, he stressed.

 

Omotoye also lamented that exportation of Nigerian products overseas occasionally expire before arrival due to the numerous challenges hence government needs to checkmate the concessionaires for an enabling port system.