The congestion at the seaports has led to stakeholders calling for the utilisation of lesser ports. However, owing to the state of such ports, this call, laudable as it is, may not be actualised at the moment. But the Federal Government, through the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA), says it is working hard to make the ports become more efficient, MUYIWA LUCAS reports.
THE Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) has reiterated the need for ships on Lagos, Port Harcourt and Onne anchorages waiting to berth, to be diverted to other ports.
ANLCA’s National President, Tony Nwabunnike, who made the call, said the situation is attracting trucks and other heavy duty vehicles to these areas, which unfortunately, lack infrastructural capacity to cater for this development,
This reason, he further revealed, has not only hampered free movement of cargo laden trucks, but also impacting adversely on the ongoing port access road construction. He regretted that in addition to causing loss of revenue to the government, the situation has the capacity to create unemployment and slow national economic growth.
“We hereby call on President Muhammadu Buhari to direct that ships waiting at the Lagos and Port Harcourt anchorages be diverted within three months to ports in Warri, Delta State and Calabar, Cross River State. Nigeria-bound cargoes are being diverted to Duala Port Cameroun due to the long waiting periods and cargo owners desire for quick turnaround time for vessels,” Nwabunike said.
According to the ANLCA boss, such diversion will not only support the government’s Ease of Doing Business objective but will also reduce the number of trucks on some port’s access roads and allow speedy execution of the ongoing construction along the corridor.
Besides, he added, it would also help in averting avoidable congestion with adverse effects in Lagos and Port Harcourt ports.
He warned that this measure required some urgency before the next rainy season when construction might be slowed down. Shippers and cargo owners, he explained, were conscious about ships turnaround time and would likely embrace opportunities for quicker discharge of cargoes.
“It will also make for even distribution of maritime trade among cities where ports are domiciled while opening the economy to fresh business opportunities,” Nwabunnike said.
To this end, the ports of Warri in Delta State and that of Calabar in Cross River State, are believed to bring relief to this problem if they are made efficient.
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But this call may not materialise in the shortest time being appealed for by the freight forwarders. At a meeting with members of the House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee on Ports and Harbours recently, the Managing Director of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) Hadiza Bala-Usman, had explained that three key reasons were responsible for vessels’ avoidance of Warri,among others.
These, she said, include insecurity, poor access roads and lack of rail linkages as well as shallow drafts of the channels. The shallow draft of the channels, she explained, hinders the infrastructure capacity of the Port Harcourt port. This is based on the approval of the contract for this by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) last year.
Besides, Onne Port is functioning at full capacity, while the NPA management is said to be working with relevant stakeholders to address the challenges in this area towards having a more robust port operation.
To address the issue of port access roads, Hadiza Bala-Usman explained that the NPA has drawn a basket of such roads across the country and written to the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing about the need to prioritise the rehabilitation of these roads.
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