By Muyiwa Lucas
National Council of Managing Directors of Licensed Customs Agents (NCMDLCA) President, Lucky Amiwero, has criticised plans by the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) to divert cargoes for Lagos ports to other parts of the country to avoid congestion and achieve quick discharge of cargoes.
He described such a move as “a breach on the law of carriage,” saying it is wrong to change the port of destination if implemented with fiat and without the consent of the cargo owners.
“It is illegal. The government doesn’t have the power to do that by the provisions of the contract of carriage. There are clauses which are liable in law. There are diversion clauses and they are restricted.
You don’t just divert cargos. Who takes responsibility for the additional cost resulting from such diversion if cargo owners insist on bringing the cargoes to Lagos by road or rail?” he queried.
Amiwero likened the proposal to a transport firm conveying passengers or goods from Lagos to Abuja but turns round to take them to Kano because, according to the firm, Abuja was congested.
“Who takes care of that cost bringing the person back to Abuja, which was the original destination? That is what they (NPA) are trying to do and by the contract of carriage, this is a violation.
They should go and study it. Look at the back of the Bill of Laden by the contract of carriage, you will see that government doesn’t have any powers when it comes to diversion.
Cargoes go to the area it is actually assigned to and if diversion is done by government, then government will pay and if it is NPA, they are going to pay as much. NPA faces the risk of being sued by importers if they don’t get their consent,” he explained.
Reminded that the authority’s position appear to be a proactive measure to guard against the vessel congestion build up in Lagos ports, Amiwero insisted that there is no congestion in Lagos port.
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According to him, what obtains in Lagos port is poor organisation because experts have not been consulted on how best to manage space and put the right supporting infrastructures in place.
“Experts should be brought in to look at the issue professionally. In 2001, we were having this kind of congestion and the government set up team of experts, not politicians.
Many of the people you see in the port industry are people who don’t know the workings of the port. Most of them are coming for the first time. They don’t have the technical knowledge.
What do you expect them to do? Most of the things we are talking about are procedures and if you don’t put your procedures right, you will continue to have the same problem.
For instance in Brawal, you have areas that can take up to 10,000 Twenty -foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) unutilised. So, Lagos port is not congested. Let them bring experts in the next one month you will not see all these things will change,” he submitted.
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