Agents, PTML disagree over access to port terminals

AGENTS under the aegis of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) and the Ports & Terminal Multiservices Ltd (PTML) have disagreed on the criteria for entry into ports terminal in Nigeria. This is even as NAGAFF accused PTML of frustrating the Ease of Doing Business policy of the Federal Government by refusing freight forwarders entry into the port.

Disclosing this to newsmen recently, Founder of NAGAFF, Dr Boniface Aniebonam stated that PTML has completely refused to honour the order of the Federal Government in terms of access into the port by insisting that before any port user can gain access into their terminal, it must be based on their (PTML) access card.

He said that this is not the case at other terminals in the country.

Aniebonam argued that access into the port as spelt out in the ministerial order issued by Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun and the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) states clearly that access into the port must be by authority of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA).

Aniebonam argued that what PTML is doing is in total breach of the ministerial order.

“Access into the port for a freight forwarder is based on the identity card issued by the CRFFN to its members and certified by the NPA as the custodian of the port, but PTML is not compliant, I am so sad that they are doing it with impunity.

“We are not in the Banana Republic. How can the federal government make an order and a private regulator is refusing that order, I dare ask the MD of NPA to take responsibility and see that this matter is resolved” he added.

When contacted by the Nigerian Tribune, the General Manager of PTML, Mr Tunde Kesinro stated that CRFFN accreditation is not enough reason to qualify anybody as a port agent.

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In his words, “CRFFN accreditation does not make a freight forwarder a port agent. It is only the Customs that issue licenses to be a port agent.

“Anybody can be a member of the CRFFN. Lawyers are members of CRFFN, that does not make them a port agent.

“It is by virtue of this that we are issuing Access Cards to monitor and give account on people that come into our facility. By issuing this access cards, we are able to have records of the movement of people in and out of our facility for safety reasons.

“It is only Customs license that we are using to determine entry into our ports. Until Customs certify an agent, we cannot allow such people into our facility.

“On a daily basis, people gather in front of our facility discussing football, and they all claim to be agents. Until we see Customs license on anybody claiming to be an agent, we cannot issue our access cards for such person. And if we don’t issue our access cards, it means no entry into our port terminal.”