PSTT resumes activities, gives 30 days to clear touting from port access roads
PSTT resumes activities, gives 30 days to clear touting from port access roads
….saved N5.4 billion for vessels and captains in demurrage in 2022
Segun Oladipupo
The Port Standing Task Team (PSTT)the body saddled with the responsibility of implementing the contents.of Nigerian Ports Process Manual (NPPM) on Wednesday stated that it was able to save a whooping N5.4 billion for vessel owners and ship captains in year 2022.
The body stated this while giving the score card of its activities in year 2022.
Coordinator of the group, Mr. Moses Fadipe while briefing the enlarged team, quipped that average of $20,000 was saved per day in the year under review in demurrage amounting to $12,350,000.
Speaking further, Fadipe maintained that more than 85 percent of the vessels that culled in nigerian ports and terminals in 2022, left without any incident.
“I mentioned that we have been able to save for the vessel owners, and captains of vessels, a whooping sum of 12,350,000 amounting to N5. 4 billion with the exchange rate at that time.”
As the team is set to resume activities on Monday, 3rd April, 2023 after taking a break to consolidate on its gains, Fadipe stated that all complaints of touting within the ambit of the port corridor will be addressed in thirty days
He assured stakeholders that the team will live up to its billing in achieving set goals for the new year
He however called on community leaders, Lagos State government, security agencies to join hands with the team to nip the challenges in the bud..
His words, “You have heard from stakeholders of touts everywhere and you equally heard from them that this is a task for all and not for PSTT alone
“Traditional rulers Lagos state government, security agencies are all involved. We have met with Commissioner of Transport in Lagos state. We can all do it.
“Within the ambit of the mandate of PSTT, by the grace of God, by next week, we are moving out and when we move out, you will see a tremendous change in the area of touting in the corridors mentioned.
“As we start from Monday, all the complaints raised in this meeting will be duly addressed in less than thirty days. That we have done, we can do ND we have the capacity to do within the port logistic ring. You will see a drastic change within the next thirty days,” he assured.
Stakeholders at the meeting lauded the team for bringing sanity into the Apapa/Tincan corridor by clearing congestions from the road as well as the port
The stakeholders were also appreciative of the fact that multiple sample taking by government agencies during clearing of cargo in the port had reduced
The stakeholders who are majorly from the freight forwarding and trucking subsectors, expressed delight in the activities of PSTT even as they testified of the manifest changes in the port corridor
They added that what previous task teams could not achieve, PSTT was able to do within the short period of its inauguration.
In December 2020, the Port Standing Task Team comprising the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and the Department of State Services (DSS) was established.
The team has since become enlarged as other related groups and bodies have been included in the for seamless operation and.to achieve the purpose for which the team was established.
The entrants include unions and associations operating in the maritime space, traffic security agencies and traffic controllers.
