Shippers’ Council Frowns Over Double Stacking Of Containers Aboard Barges On Lagos Waterways

The Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC),has frowned at double stacking of boxes aboard  barges trading  on the Lagos Pilotage Districts by operators, even as it  stressed the need for government to enforce the Cabotage act in furtherance to protect the capacity of indigenous barge operators in the country.

 

Executive Secretary of the council , Barrister Hassan Bello said this on Friday,  during a meeting with executives and members of Barge Operators Association of Nigeria (BOAN) in Lagos.

 

The council’s boss who maintained that barge operations have come to stay in maritime activities  , also harped on the need for the bargers to ensure that they register with the port economic regulators as part of efforts to ensure a level playing field in the transportation business.

 

 

Bello reiterated that to protect indigenous capacity of barge operation, it was important to look at proper regulation, the Cabotage Act, and see how the barge operators would fit into the act.

 

He noted that barge operation was a specialised one with a lot of technical and economic operations, hence the need to structure and regulate to ensure smooth flow.

 

The NSC boss said that what was needed was good understanding, control and regulation, stressing the need for regulation to ensure sanity among barge operators.

 

The Executive Secretary “Barge operations have come to stay, it is helpful to the economy, in the sense that we need to have multimodal approach that will be used to evacuate cargoes from the port.

 

“It is a good thing and with many good things comes with pains. When Nigeria Customs Service suspended the barge operations, I knew we were in trouble, we cannot afford not to operate the barge because its part of the architecture of the port.

 

Speaking further he said: “I am happy the barge operators are here today so that we can discuss the issue of security, safety, insurance, tariff on goods, minimum standards and others.

 

 

“Barge operations cannot be an all-comers affair and so the need for regulation. There is need to monitor entry and exit, to know when someone is not doing what they are suppose to do,” he said.

 

 

 

“If you allow anybody to just come and operate, there will be big problem, nobody will make profit and so the need to structure the system to have standard.

 

“It is important we introduce sanity, order and regulation and this will include technical regulation because some barges are not technically sound, and the meeting will aid in bringing down the cost and ease of doing business,” he said.

 

Earlier , the President of BOAN, Mr Edeme Kelikume, explained the recent barge accident that occurred in the Lagos waterways has nothing to do with his members ; lamenting that unlicensed operators have made the business unsafe.

Kelikume lamented that some of the unlicensed operators are fond of double stacking of containers on barges adding that members of BOAN were not involved in such operations.

 

“We are engaging with the Navy to monitor the flash points on the waterways, ensuring that all the captains are exposed to more training, working with the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency and Nigerian Inland Waterways Authority to rectify the carbon usage on the waterways.

 

“The Nigerian Ports Authority should  also bring all operators together so as to eliminate quack that infiltrate the system,” he said.

 

The President said that for the industry to succeed, there was need for a enforcement, regulatory framework and less taxation and levies from government agencies.

 

The BOAN President also called on the  Council’s interventions on the multiple  taxation and licensing of the operators.

 

He also urged the NSC to look into charges by terminal operators, saying that there are huge variance, pricing, insurance bond, multiple taxation in the area of cabotage.

 

 

By Roland Ekama