The Nation Newspaper

Tag: STOAN

  • Gridlock on ports’ access roads will reduce in January

    Gridlock on ports’ access roads will reduce in January

    The Seaport Terminal Operators Association of Nigeria ( STOAN ) on Monday said it expected the Apapa gridlock to reduce before the end of January as a result of decline in importation activities.

    The STOAN Chairperson, Mrs Vicky Haastrup, in a statement in Lagos said the reduction of the gridlock on access roads to Lagos ports was being expected due to an anticipated drop in importation.

    “The last quarter of every year usually marks the peak of importation activities at the port.

    “Now that the 2017 importation peak season is over, the number of trucks coming to the ports is expected to reduce, thereby, providing temporary relief to road users.”

    Haastrup said the situation, however, meant less cargo and less volume in the port, especially in the first quarter of 2018.

    The terminal operator said the off-peak period provided opportunity for the Federal and Lagos State Governments to address the root cause of the gridlock.

    “The reasons for the gridlock are along two major lines.

    “One is that there is a proliferation of petroleum tankers due to the preponderance of fuel tank farms and petroleum depots in the Apapa community.

    “This is an anomaly, which should urgently be corrected by the Federal Government. The correction is to facilitate the distribution of petroleum products through pipelines and not using trucks.’’

    Read also: Lagos-Ibadan rail will solve Apapa gridlock, says FRSC chief

    According to her, once government can get the refineries working, there will no longer be need for tank farms in Apapa, which attract these trucks.

    “The other reason for the gridlock is the dilapidated state of roads leading into and out of Apapa as well as the absence of truck parks.

    “Government can address these by taking advantage of the off-peak season to intensify road rehabilitation works and make relevant provision for truck holding bays before the next cycle of high level activities set in.

    “There is also an opportunity to begin implementation of the much-touted truck call up system to ensure that only trucks that have business to do at the ports are granted access into Apapa,’’ she said.

    Haastrup also urged the Federal Government to review its tariff policy on some imported items including vehicles, rice and fish to reduce smuggling.

    The STOAN chairperson said the nation’s seaports had been positioned to support the Federal Government’s economic diversification and export drive.

    According to her, terminal operators across the various ports have made substantial investments in development of their various areas of operations.

    “We have carried out major investments in terminal upgrades, acquisition of modern cargo handling equipment and training of port workers.

    “All these were done with the view of supporting government’s economic aspirations for the country, including the drive to diversify the nation’s economic base and promote non-oil exports,’’ Haastrup said.

    NAN

  • FG advised to reverse National Automotive Policy

    The Spokesman of Seaport Terminal Operators Association of Nigeria (STOAN), Mr Bolaji Akinola on Thursday advised the Federal Government to reverse the National Automotive Policy.

    Akinola gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.

    According to him, the Federal Government, through the Federal Ministry Trade and Investment, should revisit the nation’s automotive policy and ensure a quick reversal.

    He explained that the automotive policy had increased import duty on vehicles from 20 to 70 per cent and was driving cargoes (vehicles) away from Nigerian ports.

    Also, president of the Shippers Association Lagos State, Mr Jonathan Nicol, had said the automotive policy specifying 35 per cent duty, 35 per cent levy and 5 per cent Value Added Tax (VAT) should be reversed.

    Akinola said the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) policy restricting access to the official foreign exchange market by importers of 41 selected items had also compounded port operations.

    “Because of the foreign exchange restriction on importers of the 41 items, our ports have suffered significantly.

    “Very importantly, there would be the need for the Federal Ministry of Transport to look into the gridlock around both Lagos and Onne ports,” he said.

    He told NAN that the gridlock was caused by a combination of bad port access roads, lack of trailer parks and the proliferation of tank farms.

    Akinola explained that all of these should be looked into to make Nigerian ports user-friendly and to attract more cargoes that were being lost to ports in neighbouring countries.

    He also said the railways should be linked to all ports in the country to deliver more cargoes to their final destinations.

    Akinola said more workers at the terminals might be laid off as imports and exports at the ports had declined by more than 30 per cent.

    He said under the platform of STOAN, there were some workers who had been rendered redundant already, adding that more workers would suffer same fate.

    “Now that we have found ourselves in this kind of situation, the option left is to cut costs to stay afloat and remain in business, ‘’ he told NAN.

    The STOAN spokesman, however, said it would be difficult for now to be specific on the number of workers that would be affected.

  • Terminal operators face hard times after naira devaluation

    Seaport Terminal Operators Association of Nigeria (STOAN) members are facing hard times, following the devaluation of the naira.

    Their Chairman, Princess Vicky Haastrup, said at these is a lull in business because of the high exchange rate of the dollar to the naira. The exchange rate, she said, has shot Terminal Handling Charges (THC) up by 58 per cent, urging the government to address the problem.

    She said businesses have been affected by reduction in cargo volume at the port since the beginning of the year, adding that some policies of government on importation have contributed to the low  volume of cargo handled at the port.

    “Most of our commitments are in dollars whereas, we charge in naira but due to the devaluation of the naira, you’ll see that what we charge today is effectively 42 per cent of its value in 2006 when you convert same to a dollar. This is necessary for us because we, as terminal operators, now need more naira to fulfill our dollar commitments.

    “It might be recalled that in 2006, $1 exchanged for about N130, but today it is more than N220 to a dollar, which implies a significant decline of about 65 per cent in the value of the national currency since port concession,” she said.

    “Vessel call dropped by half in the first month of this year. Volume also dropped significantly by an average of 27 per cent across the various terminals. Some terminals suffered more drop in volume than that rate,” she said.

    The STOAN chair said that only 29 vessels were declared for the Lagos Pilotage District (LPD) between the last week of February and the first week of this month.

    “This number includes tankers, container vessels, general cargo vessels and all. It is very unusual. Ordinarily, about 60 vessels would be declared within the same period,” she said.

    “For instance, due to the auto-policy, the number of cars/vans discharged in Lagos dropped from 27,000 units in January, last year, to 8,000 units in January, this year.

    “It must be noted though that in the first half of 2014, the volume of vehicles imported was extremely high in anticipation of the introduction of the new duty regime on vehicles. Average number of cars/vans for previous years was in the range of 20,000 units per month. We are talking of more than 60 per cent drop in volume here.

    “For trucks, the volume dropped from 2,700 units in January 2014 to 1,700 units in 2015. The number of trucks discharged in 2014 was in line with the figures of previous years.

    “But in Cotonou port, the total number of cars/vans discharged in January 2015 was 30,000 units against 20,000 units discharged in January 2014. This represents a 50 per cent growth. Similar trends have been registered also for trucks.

    “This means Cotonou is gaining from Nigeria’s loss due to the auto policy as more importers are discharging there to avoid paying the 70 per cent duty and levy in Nigeria. These vehicles will eventually find their way into the Nigerian market,” she said.

    Haastrup said the same fate had befallen general cargo terminal operators, especially those handling rice and fish.

    “Terminal operators generally are facing a tough time here. This certainly is not the best of time for our operations.

    “Notwithstanding these challenges though, our members remain committed to deepening reforms at the ports. We have achieved tremendous success in the ports and at our various terminals with well over USD1billion invested collectively by terminal operators and this has resulted in a more efficient port operation. We will continue with the success story.

    “The congestion and vessel queue which we successfully eliminated upon takeover in 2006; upgrading of port facilities and the continuous transformation of our ports in line with the vision of President Goodluck Jonathan are major milestones in the history of the seaports,” she said.

  • Terminal operators seek subsidy on freight for landlocked nations

    The Seaport Terminal Operators Association of Nigeria (STOAN) has urged the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) to subsidise the landlocked countries’ transactions at the seaports.

    The group said handling transshipment cargo for Nigeria’s landlocked neighbouring countries is not commercially viable.

    STOTAN said the conditions under which NPA handled transshipment cargoes in the pre-port concession era were not favourable to the ports.

    It said terminal operators would handle transshipment cargoes of the landlocked nations only if NPA was willing to pay the shortfall charged by shippers of the affected countries.

    Its Chairman, Princess Vicky Haastrup, who spoke in Lagos, said that unless NPA was willing to subsidise the landlocked countrits’ transactions, her members would not have anything to do with their cargoes.

    She said the rates which NPA charged the landlocked countries, including Chad and Niger Republic for the handling of the consignments, were too low .

    “NPA as a government agency, was probably playing the normal “big brother” role to the neighbouring African countries, but we are private people, we cannot do that ‘Father Christmas’ for anybody. If the land-locked countries are ready to pay the normal rates in cargo handling, we will be very willing to do business with them,” she said.

    The STOAN chairman said the concessionaires at the seaports had achieved a lot in the past eight years of port concession.

    “We are proud of our achievements at the ports these past eight years. We have done a lot. We have improved operation and modernised the ports. Before now, equipment and cargo availability were a huge challenge at the ports. Vessels had to queue endlessly to secure berthing space. The ports were run down, but the story is different. We have port terminals that Nigerians measures to port terminals in developed countries and that Nigerians can be proud of,” she said.

    Haastrup also said the port environment is congested due to the activities of non-core port operations including tank farms which she said are “too close to the ports.”

  • Maritime workers fault ban on rice, car importation

    Maritime workers fault ban on rice, car importation

    THE Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN), has advised the Federal Government to review its planned policy on importation of rice.

    This was contained in a letter dated December 27 and addressed to President Goodluck Jonathan.

    The letter, signed by the union’s President General, Mr. Anthony Nted, and the General Secretary, Mr. Aham Ubani, said the review would also reduce smuggling of the commodity.

    According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the government recently announced plan to stop the importation of rice by 2015 as part of efforts to ensure sufficiency in local production.

    The union said that many vessels conveying rice to Nigerian ports had been diverted to ports of neighbouring countries during the festive season due to the announcement.

    “The policy on importation of rice has made it difficult for genuine rice importers to bring in their products through our ports. The effect is that revenue accruing to the nation is lost to neighbouring countries and some Nigerians who genuinely work in the ports are also denied their livelihood,” MWUN said.

    The workers said that they were excited by the Federal Government’s desire to make the country self-sufficient and less import-dependent but stressed that adequate plan must be put in place.

    The union said that due to the announcement, smuggling had increased and poor quality of rice had found their way into the markets as they were not controlled.

    The workers said that inferior rice was not fit for human consumption because of its health implication and effects on the economy.

    The union said the new tariff and levies on vehicles were too hasty as they would have negative implication on jobs and revenue.

    The workers said that 95 per cent of Nigerians who worked in Roll On/Roll Off (RORO) terminal were specifically meant to handle imports and exports of vehicles.

    The union advised government to create the enabling environment for vehicles to either be manufactured or assembled in Nigeria.

    “There should be local production of vehicles spare parts, steady power supply and necessary infrastructure,” MWUN said

    The union contended that the policy, if reviewed, would enhance vehicle clearance at the ports and create jobs for maritime workers.

    The Seaports Terminal Operators Association of Nigeria (STOAN) added its voice, urging the Federal Government to review the policy on rice imports in the interest of the nation’s economy.

    The spokesman for STOAN, Mr Bolaji Akinola, said Nigeria was losing N1billion daily to the subsisting policy on rice importation and the attendant high level smuggling.

    “Before Jan. 2013, rice importers paid 60 per cent duty, but when duty was increased to 110 per cent, importers shunned Nigerian ports for neighbouring countries”’, Akinola said.

    He said that vessels bearing rice had been going to neighouring ports where they were paying far less duty and the smugglers ended up bringing the same rice into the country illegally,

    Akinola said the announcement had affected the revenue of the Apapa Command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).