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Familiarization Visit: Barr. Akutah Inspects BUA, OMT, and WACT Facilities…Holds Stakeholders Interactive Meeting In PortHarcourt
The Executive Secretary/CEO of Nigerian Shippers’ Council, Barr. Pius Akutah, has ended his familiarization visit to BUA Port and Terminal, Onne Multipurpose Terminal (OMT), and West African Container Terminal (WACT).
Speaking at BUA Terminal, Barr. Akutah, who was received alongside his team by the General Manager, BUA Port and Terminal, Alhaji Mohammed Labbo, said that the essence of his visit was to visit the port, which he described as one of the ‘legacy ports’ in the country and to speak and familiarize with key players and stakeholders in the sector, having been appointed as the CEO of Nigerian Shippers’ Council in the last six months.
On what is expected of his administration, Barr. Akutah opined that nothing is new because Nigerian Shippers’ Council has been around over the years, except for the fact that a bill to make it an economic regulator of the ports is before the National Assembly.
He added that his priority would be on constant engagement with all key stakeholders in the sector, to work together as one family to achieve the purpose for which the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy, as well as the Nigerian Shippers’ Council, were set up by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
In his opening speech at the stakeholder’s interactive meeting, shortly after he visited BUA Terminal, which was held at the Hotel Presidential Port Harcourt on May 22, 2024, Barr. Akutah said the meeting was the first of its kind since his assumption of office, hence the need to meet with port users and service providers, as well as other critical stakeholders, to listen to their challenges and see how those challenges could be addressed for the good of the sector and country at large.
In response, some of the sector stakeholders, which include shippers, freight forwarders, port users, and providers, among others, enumerated their respective challenges, which hinged on the inability of the federal government to provide an enabling environment for shippers to carry out their shipping activities at the ports, the inability of the NPA to refund payments on services not rendered, and the inability of shippers not to refund payments made by freight forwarders even after containers have been returned, among others.
The multiple taxation on a single container by Nigeria Customs Service, high and unstable dollar exchange rates, and the demand for certificates by each government agency operating at the port on a single container or cargo make it difficult for freight forwarders to carry out their jobs at the port.
The abandonment of Warri, Calabar, and Area 1 ports was also made known by stakeholders operating at the respective ports.
Others were of the view that the government should engage relevant stakeholders in policy formulation and provide rail lines across ports and cities in the country to ease doing business at the ports.
Responding to the issues raised, Barr. Akutah assured stakeholders of the government’s continued support in their respective efforts to grow the economy of the country, adding that the vision of the Honourable Minister of Marine and Blue Economy cannot be achieved alone by the government but through constant engagements with all relevant stakeholders in the sector.
He further promised to take the issues raised at the meeting to the Honourable Minister of Marine and Blue Economy for further discussion and response to some of the issues that were yet to be resolved.
Speaking on the issue of multiple charges by Nigeria Customs Service, the Customs Area Comptroller (CAC) of Area 1 Command, PortHarcourt, Rivers State, Comptroller M Hashim, represented by Assistant Comptroller (AC) ED Maman, noted that their charges are based on dollar exchange rate from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
He emphasised that some of the bottlenecks being experienced by shippers and other port users are not applicable in Area 1 Port; hence, there is a need for shippers and other port users to take advantage of the newly opened Ibeto Port Terminal at Area 1 Port, Port Harcourt, for enhanced service delivery and ease in doing business.
On her part, Mrs. Kenechi Okezie, Port Manager, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Area 1 Port, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, assured of NPA’s effort to refund those currently owed by it and other efforts to ensure that their agreement with BUA, in terms of providing a parking slot for trucks and construction of an exit road in the port, are completed by BUA’s management.
In continuation of the two-day familiarization visit, Barr. Pius Akutah and his team were received on Thursday, May 23, 2024, by the Commercial Manager, Onne Multipurpose Terminal (OMT), Mr. Charles Okowue, and shortly after, by Mr. Innocent Ogbuji, Commercial Manager, Government Relations, West African Container Terminal (WACT).
Having watched the ‘journey so far’ visual presentations by the duo terminals, particularly on some of the challenges being faced by WACT, which include a lack of power supply and the poor state of the East-West road, among others, Barr. Akutah expressed satisfaction with the level of investments and achievements so far recorded by OMT and WACT within a few years of operations.
While thanking the duo terminal operators for their huge investments in the sector, thanked WACT for putting in place a Container Freight Station for shippers to ease their shipping challenges, while assuring that Shippers’ Council would do anything possible to ensure that investments made by OMT and WACT did not go in vain.
In their respective responses, the management teams of OMT and WACT lauded the Executive Secretary/CEO of Nigerian Shippers’ Council, Barr. Akutah and his team for finding time to visit them and promised to support the Honourable Minister of Marine and Blue Economy and Nigerian Shippers’ Council in boosting the economy of the nation through the sector.
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