The Managing Director of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Hadiza Bala-Usman has once again made it clear that the Authority has no powers to compel any importer or exporter to route his or her goods through any preferred port.
Responding to issues raised by concessionaries operating at the Eastern Ports of Port Harcourt, Warri and Onne during a recent interactive forum, Bala-Usman, said, “NPA cannot compel importers to route their goods through the Eastern ports. Importers are at liberty to route their cargo through whichever port they like.”
Her comments come as the concessionaires in Port Harcourt, Messrs Port and Terminal Operators Limited and BUA Ports and Terminals, lamented that the Eastern ports were not being patronized as Western ports of Lagos.
The operators also decried what they described as incessant attacks on vessels around Bonny waters, noting that their operations were affected by the activities of pirates on the waterways.
To them, with the investment they had made so far in the facility, one would expect importers to welcome the opportunity of routing their cargoes through the Eastern port, especially for goods destined for the eastern region.
In their views, the reverse had been the case as rather than embracing the opportunity, importers have continued to shun the Eastern ports, due in part to the level of insecurity associated with the area.
On the angle of port insecurity, Business Hilights recalls that the Federal Government had severally expressed worries over the level of insecurity in the Eastern Port region, adding that the poor activities recorded at ports in the region and Rivers State in particular were caused by insecurity.
However, a maritime expert, Dr Vincent Nwani, while responding suggested that in addition to providing infrastructure, the government should beef up security around the area and give some incentives to importers to attract them to the Eastern ports.
In his further submission, Nwani averred that “The government can do more by marketing the ports to importers, through a reduction in charges for cargoes discharged at the ports.”
Still on port and territorial waters security, it would be recalled that in the wake of Escravos channel dredging by the NPA, the Ijaw youths signed an undertaking to let peace reign in the area.
Accordingly, the duo of President of Ijaw Youth Council, Mr Eric Omare, and his Itsekiri National Youth Council counterpart, Weyinmi Agbateyinro, gave the assurance that there would be no ethnic strife to cause disturbance to government’s efforts to develop the ports.
Both bodies argued that communities around PH port would need to borrow the same leaf of peaceful co-existence and elimination of attacks on vessels if they aim to restore the confidence of importers.
They agreed that as a major oil depot, a lot of investments could be channeled to the port, leading to ripple effects of employment creation.
Business Hilights gathered that federal Government makes over N1tn from seaports around Lagos, but Eastern ports stakeholders are of the views that the amount could be tripled if there is increase in vessel traffic which can be activated by resolving insecurity at Eastern ports.
