The National Association of Stevedoring Companies (NASC) has revealed that most Nigerian port terminals lack basic amenities like toilets, bathrooms etc for port workers.
This was disclosed to maritime journalists on Wednesday in Lagos during a press briefing held at NASC Secretariat by its President, Mr Bolaji Sunmola and Vice President, Mallam Aliyu Bambado.
According to Bolaji Sunmola, “One of the problems we are facing at the ports is the welfare of dockworkers. Majority of the dockworkers at various port terminals are not properly kitted or remunerated.
“Do you know that many of the port terminals do not have ordinary toilets for dockworkers? Many of the port terminals cannot boast of providing toilets for dockworkers, let alone Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). The dockworkers, while carrying out their duty inside the port terminals, usually do “Short-put” anytime they feel the call of nature. After the short-put, they throw their faeces into the water.
“Imagine terminal operators that cannot provide common toilets inside port terminals for workers, asking us to provide PPE’s for the workers? An ordinary boot for a dockworker now cost around N45,000, and that depends on the kind of operation the dockworker is doing.
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“We have not said we cannot provide kits for the dockworkers, but the operation we carry out in the ports must fund such expenditure.”
The stevedoring association also commended the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) on the recent Marine Notice issued for stevedoring firms to return to the location and commence operations, lamenting that the International Oil Companies (IOC’s) have taken over the stevedoring jobs which are meant for locals companies in Nigeria.
In the words of the NASC Vice President, Mallam Aliyu Bambado, “The IOCs cannot constitute themselves into different powerful firms, making things difficult for the local stevedores’ companies in Nigeria. The era where IOC’s appropriate stevedoring jobs to foreign companies must stop.
“Therefore, we want to commend NIMASA for issuing that Marine Notice. The notice is not just in favour of stevedoring companies in Nigeria, but it’s in the interest of Nigerians generally. The Notice is in line with the 2014 Stevedoring Regulation gazetted by the Federal Government of Nigeria and developed pursuant to the NIMASA Act, 2007.
“For NIMASA to come out to issue a marine notice to the whole world, I don’t think they would want to do something they won’t be able to see to the end. That is why we are encouraging them to do more, and we will support them with whatever they need to make it successful.”
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