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Delay of cargo at seaports worries LCCI

By on February 18, 2014

The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry has said the 48-hour deadline set by the Federal Government for the clearance of cargo at the seaports is far from being attained.

It said the delay in clearing cargo at the ports was having serious effects on the cost of doing business.

The President, LCCI, Mr. Remi Bello, who stated this in a statement on Sunday, lamented that the delay had become a major cause for concern for the business community.

He listed the implications of the current situation to include high demurrage charges and disruption of production schedules as raw materials were not delivered in good time to factories.

Others are high risk of corruption at the ports; risk of exacerbation of inflation; and high cost of borrowed funds by importers.

“One of the major shortcomings of the investment environment in Nigeria is the speed of cargo clearance at the ports; the 48-hour target set by government is far from being achieved,” the LCCI president said.

According to Bello, the delays in the positioning of cargo at the port terminals are caused by inadequate equipment for cargo handling; high incidence of cargo block-stacking; poor access roads to the ports; and poor road network within the ports.

Others, according to him, are frequent breakdown of the server of the Nigeria Customs Service; delays in cargo release from shipping lines; and tight deadlines for cargo examination booking.

The LCCI president said, “Above all, the rail system designed to evacuate cargo from the Lagos ports need to be resuscitated as a matter of utmost urgency.

“The menace of trucks, trailers and tankers on Lagos roads, in particular, and the national road network in general, has assumed an unbearable dimension.”

 

 

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