Oyetola charges Customs to evacuate over 6,000 overtime cargoes abandoned in Apapa, Tincan ports for 12 years
Oyetola charges Customs to evacuate over 6,000 overtime cargoes abandoned in Apapa, Tincan ports for 12 years
Segun Oladipupo
The Minister of Marine & Blue Economy, Adegboyega Isiaka Oyetola has fumed over abandonment of over 6,000 consignments at the Lagos Ports Complex (LPC) and Tin Can Island Port in Lagos.
The Minister who got the information during his tour of the ports, charged the Nigeria Customs Service to evacuate such consignments in order to decongest the terminals.
The Minister disclosed this during his maiden visit to headquarters of the Nigerian Shipper’s Council (NSC) in Lagos.
He assured that the Ministry would engage the management of Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) on the issue so as to evacuate the overtime cargoes and address other bottlenecks.
He also frowned at the low number of scanners available for cargo examination at the port terminals adding that physical examination process embarked upon by security agencies would not encourage trade facilitation and revenue drive of the government
Oyetola stated that the Ministry would work round the clock towards ensuring that the containers are evacuated to encourage trade facilitation
According the Minister, long bureaucratic processes and corruption are some factors that have elongated cargo clearance time thereby frustrating shippers and leading to the jettisoning of containers at ports.
The Minister stated that “I was told that some of these abandoned cargoes have been there since 2011. Why should we have cargoes dumped for that long. We would engage Customs to see how to evacuate these cargoes and prevent that from reoccurring.”
“Marine and Blue Economy has always been there but we are just beginning to look at it in a more coordinated manner”
“This Marine and Blue Economy evolves around economic growth, improved standard of living and employment. I am charging us to be more creative by seeing ourselves as civil servants in business,” the Minister said.
Oyetola stated that he was impressed with the accomplishments of NSC in recent years even as he promised to partner the agency in tackling the issues highlighted as requiring urgent actions.
