Posted on May 17, 2020
There are growing concerns over accumulation of imported goods at the Apapa port in Lagos with most terminals now full above 90 per cent capacity, Daily Trust reports.
The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has, however, tasked terminal operators to take concrete measures to ensure speedy release of imported goods – especially essential commodities – from different ports.
The call came following an outcry by freight forwarders over their inability to access some terminals, particularly Ports and Cargo.
The freight forwarders also complained that export cargoes and trucks returning empty containers were now trapped in the never-ending traffic along the Tin Can axis of the Oshodi-Apapa Expressway.
Some truck drivers returning empty containers said they had been held up for days without any official of Ports and Cargo on ground to explain what had happened.
Daily Trust learnt from a senior NPA staff that management asked them to take immediate steps to ensure that the supply of key essential goods was not impeded.
The official said management had recently asked importers to continue importing essential items so that supply of goods was not hampered in the market during the ongoing COVID-19 crisis.
Spokesman of SIFAX Group, Philip Olawunmi Ojo, told Daily Trust on phone that the issue went beyond Ports and Cargo, saying the inability of terminals to release cargo also had to do with availability of cash.
Ojo said some freight forwarders could not ask for the release of their cargoes without paying duty to customs.
He said, “Banks are now operating between 08:00am and 02:00pm, and it is not all the branches that are open to customs. These and many more reasons are why the port is congested.
“The case is not peculiar to Ports and Cargo, other terminals are also experiencing the same issue. All terminals are full; above 90 percent capacity.”
Source: dailytrust
