Review NPA’s 29 years Act, pass Port& Habour Bill into law, Haastrup tells FG
The Executive Vice Chairman, ENL Consortium and Chairman, Seaport Terminal Operators Association of Nigeria (STOAN), Princess Vicky Haastrup, has called for early review of the Nigerian Ports Authority’s (NPA) Act to be in line with modern business reality.
In a handy alternative, she sought for the timely passage of the Port and Harbours Bill (a proposal for a new law) by the National Assembly.
Addressing journalists shortly are her investiture as the 4th President of the Certified Institute of Shipping. Nigeria (CISN), she argued that in order to re-engineer the maritime sector, government should provide an enabling environment through monetary and fiscal policies for trade growth and economic sustainability.
According to her, “The maritime industry should be overhauled in the areas of maritime policies, institutional, regulatory and legal framework. This is because our policy framework is outdated and incoherent. The Nigerian Ports Authority Act is 29 years old. New laws are urgently required. The National Assembly should pass the Ports and Harbours Bill currently before it.
“Government should do constant dredging of the channels in order to maintain a given draught. The dilapidated port access roads should be fixed while inter-modal transportation should be enhanced. The laying of channel buoys, the procurement of additional harbour crafts, the establishment of new signal stations and anchorages aimed at ensuring safety of navigation, protection of maritime environment and enhancement of maritime safety should be undertaken by the government to bring down the cost of doing business,” she said.
While congratulating the institute on its drive for maritime manpower development noted that “As a maritime academy, I wish to call for the inclusion of the following shipping academic related courses/programmed into the curriculum of the institute by the Board of Studies; Standard of Training, Certification and Watch Keeping (STCW) and other IMO courses, Certificate of Competencies (CoC) for seamen, general courses in shipping management, port operation, freight forwarding to address maritime logistics and supply chain management issues.”
