Incentives for Eastern ports patronage not enough ― Stakeholders

Stakeholders in the maritime sector of the economy have called on the Federal Government to increase incentives for those using the Eastern ports, stating that the present incentives made available are not good enough to attract port users to the Eastern ports.

This is even as the stakeholders called for more awareness on the introduction of the Port Service Support Portal (PSSP), especially in the ports situated in the East to promote transparency and consistent application of standards in the nation’s seaports.

These were some of the positions taken recently by stakeholders at a one-day roundtable to ensure effective and efficient service delivery in Nigeria’s seaports organised by the Maritime Anti-corruption Network (MACN) in conjunction with the Convention on Business Integrity (CBI) and the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA) in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

The roundtable with the theme “Towards Standard Operating Procedures That Works in Nigeria’s Sea Ports and Terminals” took place at the Rivers State capital, Port Harcourt.

In his welcome remarks at the occasion, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of CBI, Mr Soji Apampa said the portal was targeted at eliminating corruption and “elements of delay” in the turn-around of ships in the country’s ports.

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He said the challenge of gratifications and maritime corruption had been the bane of effective and efficient service delivery at the ports over the years.

Apampa noted that MACN had implemented collective action by launching several serious procedures in cargo clearing in the ports, adding that through joint action, more efficiency would be achieved in the system.

In his contribution, the Deputy Director, Complaints Unit of Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC), Mr Moses Fadipe, pointed out that the support portal would help to submit and track complaints, recalling that the portal was launched in June 2017 by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

He said that apart from poor infrastructure at the ports, other challenges identified include time and cost of doing business at the ports, government agencies and terminal operators efficiency to duties, government official documentation, berthing of the ship and discharging of cargoes processes.

He noted that other challenges involve the efficiency of Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) personnel that operate in the nation’s seaports.

In the words of Moses Fadipe, “At what time do they go onboard ships, and what time is the ship operating? Also discharging time of the ship, instead of six hours turn-around, we have 24 hours incurring much delay due to official delay and all the cost were borne by consumers. Today, people are becoming aware and a lot of government agencies are becoming indicted since the introduction of the Port Service Support Portal.”

An anti-corruption crusader, Mr Vebek Menon, said that so far, only five cases of complaints had been reported through the portal and that the matter raised would be addressed without prejudice.

Former National President of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Chief Ernest Elochukwu in his own contribution, queried why the government could not fashion out ways to stop corruption in the maritime sector and why there are no harsh consequences for failure to deliver.

Elochukwu who represented the Port Harcourt Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (PHCCIMA) at the round table argued that as long as there are no consequences for the violations in the rules of engagements in the cargo clearance chain, impunity would continue to be the bane of the maritime industry.

He thanked the organisers for what it has done so far to rid the system of corruption, especially in the East just as he demanded more to be done in the months ahead to ensure efficiency in Nigerian ports.

One of the recommendations proposed at the end of the round table is the need for experienced sharing sessions among Nigerian ports/terminals customers/users, officials/officers, management, government and their West African/European counterparts, in order to enable the Nigerian groups learn how to build and deploy integrity, anti-corruption governance strategies and build positive business environment going forward.