Anxiety trails Ports infrastructure audit

It is about nine years since the nation’s seaports were handed over to the private operators under a concession programme. Prior to 2006, the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) handled terminal operation, a major statutory function that was inherited by the concessionaires. Among the objectives of the port reform was to ensure that those who took over cargo handling operation would be in a position to fund the infrastructure requirement that will make Nigerian ports more efficient. This is considering the nightmare that Nigerian shippers and their freight forwarders suffered trying to clear their goods out of the ports. Among myriad of problems associated with the old system were dilapidating infrastructure which made business at the ports very cumbersome. The scenario was that those who had goods to clear suffered a number of bureaucratic bottlenecks.

The cargo handling equipment were not enough to position containers for examination. It was such that plant operators took advantage of the situation to extort money from importers. Those who had containers for examination had to settle the plant operators if they wanted to be attended to. This made the ports very unconducive for business in what forced many to patronize the neighbouring ports. But it was not only the shippers but also shipowners bringing goods into the country that suffered. Many of them had to spend up to three weeks waiting to be discharged of their cargoes. Such delay was attributed to the poor cargo handling equipment deployed by the NPA. With the concession of the ports, the situation has recorded tremendous improvement. The terminal operators were expected to invest in cargo handling equipment, while the NPA was faced with its own obligations as a landlord to make service delivery at the ports better.

Obligations of the NPA, Terminal Operators
With the concessioning programme in 2006, the NPA as the landlord of the system is faced with the statutory function of dredging, maintenance of common user facilities, pilotage and towage, navigation facilities and maintenance of quay wall and aprons, among others. On the other hand, the terminal operators are faced with the obligations of renovation and refurbishing of facilities, construction of perimeter fencing in line with ISPC code, provision of enough cargo handling equipment, IT infrastructure facilities , provision of office space for government agencies, among others. Considering the situation before the reform exercise, there has been high level of improvement in the ports in terms of efficiency. Both NPA and the terminal operators have all maintained that they have carried out their statutory functions as contained in the agreement signed with the government. However, a Ministerial report on the activities of both the landlord and terminal operators identified some of the challenges facing the two in their statutory functions. Some of the terminal operators had accused the NPA of poor dredging of channels, poor maintenance of common user facilities, inadequate sweeping of berths, poor road accessibility, dilapidated quay walls and apron, inadequate marine service, poor security in common user areas, among others. On the other hand, some of the terminal operators were accused of high dwell time of vessels, high demurrage and storage charges, inadequate handling equipment for positioning containers for examination. Between the time of the findings of the committee which was last year and now, so many things may have changed. Either the NPA or the terminal operators would have moved to address issues observed by members of the Ministerial Committee which report came out early this year. To observers, this is where the ports economic regulator comes in, talking about the ports infrastructure audit.

Equipment Audit by NSC
The Executive Secretary Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC), Mr. Hassan Bello in his view of the ports after concession believes that some level of progress has been made. But Bello also believes that the situation can be better, one of the reasons for the decision to audit the performance of all service providers. Officials of the Council told this writer that the planned audit is not a witch-hunting exercise but a normal regulatory function to ensure that the service providers, including NPA and terminal operators live up to expectations in terms of their obligations at the ports. “The Council as the regulator is only doing its job, and will always be fair to all, as the father to all. Our interest is to increase efficiency from what has been recorded. The only way to achieve efficiency in ports operation is to have increased cargo handling equipment so that ships bringing cargoes are not delayed, so that shippers who want their containers positioned for examination by the Customs do not have to spend so much time waiting for this exercise. We want the best for all the service providers just like the consumers of shipping services”, he said. The idea, he added, is to ascertain what the service providers have in stock based on their claims. In a recent interview, Executive Secretary, NSC, Hassan Bello explained that as the ports regulator, his council is for all, adding that the recent visit to some of the terminal operators helped his agency to find out the problems of the service providers and how to assist them.

He explained, “We have gone to terminal operators. We listened to their complaints and we know that we are taking their complaints to the government. Government has responsibility to provide conducive atmosphere for their operations. It is glaring that some of them are operating under very hard conditions and I think , it is not a good thing, especially as it added cost to many things at the ports which is affecting so many things .We also want to bring the complaints we have gotten from the users of their services to their knowledge. One is the complaint in the delay of the process of cargo clearance. We want them to attain 70-80 percent clearance of goods from the ports. …..they (terminal operators) should take them to off-dock terminals. Port is a transient place and that will reduce the dwell time of cargo….because this is the problem we are facing. We don’t want cargo to stay more than one day necessary at the ports. We also have to encourage them to embrace automation and technology. We have to have them register with us…. they are in the process of registering with us…so that we can take their problems to the government. We are advisers to government in the ports and government will have a roadmap where it can intervene. The issue of access roads to their terminals…. It is in a sore state, this will make long evacuation period of cargo. And government should step in and do what is government’s responsibility. At the same time, the terminals have obligations …they have to position the containers for cargo for examination. They have to have efficiency. They have to have relevant machinery and plant….so we are going to start auditing the plants, the machinery they have….we will encourage them to have more. We will sanction them if they don’t have, we want to ensure that things are in accordance with the concession agreement”.

Bello further explained that during the audit, it would be to verify equipment profile of all the service providers that will make positioning of cargo for examination faster and efficient. He added that the whole essence of the audit is to make the nation’s ports number one in the West and Central Africa sub-region, an achievement, he said, would favour both the government and service providers because of the multiplier effect on the national economy.

The exercise, it was gathered will cover all the service providers, including terminal operators, NPA, Customs Service and other government agencies in the ports. The ports regulator will be checking the level of cargo handling equipment, automation and technology deployed to facilitate trade.

Bello said, “We want Nigeria to be the best in the West and Central African sub-region . The reason being that this will be a boost to the economy. This will mean enhanced revenue especially in the face of dwindling revenue from oil. We want this to be a source of creating employment for our youths. So, we want to bring out the potential in the maritime industry so that they will make expected contribution to the economy. It is important to transform the port and make it the hub of the West Africa sub-region”, he said.
On when the audit will start, he said, “We will give them ample time, we have to give them reasonable notice when we will come and audit these things… All this is for their benefit and we will work together for things to improve”.

Lagos Ports

As the move to carry out infrastructure audit at the nation’s ports gathers momentum and apprehension, the ports economic regulator explains that the measure is not a witch-hunting exercise but normal to find out the truth about the equipment profile of the service providers, government agencies and stimulate them in their obligations for the provision of facilities to make the ports more efficient, writes Francis Ugwoke
It is about nine years since the nation’s seaports were handed over to the private operators under a concession programme. Prior to 2006, the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) handled terminal operation, a major statutory function that was inherited by the concessionaires. Among the objectives of the port reform was to ensure that those who took over cargo handling operation would be in a position to fund the infrastructure requirement that will make Nigerian ports more efficient. This is considering the nightmare that Nigerian shippers and their freight forwarders suffered trying to clear their goods out of the ports. Among myriad of problems associated with the old system were dilapidating infrastructure which made business at the ports very cumbersome. The scenario was that those who had goods to clear suffered a number of bureaucratic bottlenecks.

The cargo handling equipment were not enough to position containers for examination. It was such that plant operators took advantage of the situation to extort money from importers. Those who had containers for examination had to settle the plant operators if they wanted to be attended to. This made the ports very unconducive for business in what forced many to patronize the neighbouring ports. But it was not only the shippers but also shipowners bringing goods into the country that suffered. Many of them had to spend up to three weeks waiting to be discharged of their cargoes. Such delay was attributed to the poor cargo handling equipment deployed by the NPA. With the concession of the ports, the situation has recorded tremendous improvement. The terminal operators were expected to invest in cargo handling equipment, while the NPA was faced with its own obligations as a landlord to make service delivery at the ports better.

Obligations of the NPA, Terminal Operators
With the concessioning programme in 2006, the NPA as the landlord of the system is faced with the statutory function of dredging, maintenance of common user facilities, pilotage and towage, navigation facilities and maintenance of quay wall and aprons, among others. On the other hand, the terminal operators are faced with the obligations of renovation and refurbishing of facilities, construction of perimeter fencing in line with ISPC code, provision of enough cargo handling equipment, IT infrastructure facilities , provision of office space for government agencies, among others. Considering the situation before the reform exercise, there has been high level of improvement in the ports in terms of efficiency. Both NPA and the terminal operators have all maintained that they have carried out their statutory functions as contained in the agreement signed with the government. However, a Ministerial report on the activities of both the landlord and terminal operators identified some of the challenges facing the two in their statutory functions. Some of the terminal operators had accused the NPA of poor dredging of channels, poor maintenance of common user facilities, inadequate sweeping of berths, poor road accessibility, dilapidated quay walls and apron, inadequate marine service, poor security in common user areas, among others. On the other hand, some of the terminal operators were accused of high dwell time of vessels, high demurrage and storage charges, inadequate handling equipment for positioning containers for examination. Between the time of the findings of the committee which was last year and now, so many things may have changed. Either the NPA or the terminal operators would have moved to address issues observed by members of the Ministerial Committee which report came out early this year. To observers, this is where the ports economic regulator comes in, talking about the ports infrastructure audit.

Equipment Audit by NSC
The Executive Secretary Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC), Mr. Hassan Bello in his view of the ports after concession believes that some level of progress has been made. But Bello also believes that the situation can be better, one of the reasons for the decision to audit the performance of all service providers. Officials of the Council told this writer that the planned audit is not a witch-hunting exercise but a normal regulatory function to ensure that the service providers, including NPA and terminal operators live up to expectations in terms of their obligations at the ports. “The Council as the regulator is only doing its job, and will always be fair to all, as the father to all. Our interest is to increase efficiency from what has been recorded. The only way to achieve efficiency in ports operation is to have increased cargo handling equipment so that ships bringing cargoes are not delayed, so that shippers who want their containers positioned for examination by the Customs do not have to spend so much time waiting for this exercise. We want the best for all the service providers just like the consumers of shipping services”, he said. The idea, he added, is to ascertain what the service providers have in stock based on their claims. In a recent interview, Executive Secretary, NSC, Hassan Bello explained that as the ports regulator, his council is for all, adding that the recent visit to some of the terminal operators helped his agency to find out the problems of the service providers and how to assist them.

He explained, “We have gone to terminal operators. We listened to their complaints and we know that we are taking their complaints to the government. Government has responsibility to provide conducive atmosphere for their operations. It is glaring that some of them are operating under very hard conditions and I think , it is not a good thing, especially as it added cost to many things at the ports which is affecting so many things .We also want to bring the complaints we have gotten from the users of their services to their knowledge. One is the complaint in the delay of the process of cargo clearance. We want them to attain 70-80 percent clearance of goods from the ports. …..they (terminal operators) should take them to off-dock terminals. Port is a transient place and that will reduce the dwell time of cargo….because this is the problem we are facing. We don’t want cargo to stay more than one day necessary at the ports. We also have to encourage them to embrace automation and technology. We have to have them register with us…. they are in the process of registering with us…so that we can take their problems to the government. We are advisers to government in the ports and government will have a roadmap where it can intervene. The issue of access roads to their terminals…. It is in a sore state, this will make long evacuation period of cargo. And government should step in and do what is government’s responsibility. At the same time, the terminals have obligations …they have to position the containers for cargo for examination. They have to have efficiency. They have to have relevant machinery and plant….so we are going to start auditing the plants, the machinery they have….we will encourage them to have more. We will sanction them if they don’t have, we want to ensure that things are in accordance with the concession agreement”.

Bello further explained that during the audit, it would be to verify equipment profile of all the service providers that will make positioning of cargo for examination faster and efficient. He added that the whole essence of the audit is to make the nation’s ports number one in the West and Central Africa sub-region, an achievement, he said, would favour both the government and service providers because of the multiplier effect on the national economy.

The exercise, it was gathered will cover all the service providers, including terminal operators, NPA, Customs Service and other government agencies in the ports. The ports regulator will be checking the level of cargo handling equipment, automation and technology deployed to facilitate trade.

Bello said, “We want Nigeria to be the best in the West and Central African sub-region . The reason being that this will be a boost to the economy. This will mean enhanced revenue especially in the face of dwindling revenue from oil. We want this to be a source of creating employment for our youths. So, we want to bring out the potential in the maritime industry so that they will make expected contribution to the economy. It is important to transform the port and make it the hub of the West Africa sub-region”, he said.
On when the audit will start, he said, “We will give them ample time, we have to give them reasonable notice when we will come and audit these things… All this is for their benefit and we will work together for things to improve”.