NPA begins overtime cargo evacuation

The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has begun the evacuation of overtime cargoes to help decongest the port.

Mrs. Josephine Moltok, the General Manager, Corporate and Strategic Communications, NPA, said this in a statement in Lagos.

Moltok said the decongestion of the ports to pave the way for efficient operations received a boost on June 23 when the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Transportation, Dr. Magdelene Ajani, led an inter-agency team on an assessment tour.

“The team, comprising the NPA, the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), and the Nigerian Shippers’ Council, made an assessment tour of overtime cargoes littering the ports.

“The Lagos and Tincan Island Port Complexes and the Terminals Therein, including Ikorodu Lighter Terminal, have over the years been occupied with 3,200 units of overtime cars and about 3,295 units of overtime containers, respectively”, Moltok said.

She added that the eastern ports had a combined total of 956 overtime containers.

“This awkward situation, apart from constraining terminal spaces required for seamless cargo handling operations in the ports, has contributed to the deterioration of port infrastructure,” she said.

She added that the port infrastructure is designed as transit locations as opposed to holding deadweight tonnages for years, which these age-long overtime cargoes constitute.

“Following the inspection tour, which was held on June 23 and June 24, respectively, an all-stakeholder sensitization involving shipping lines and an association of freight forwarders and clearing agents was convened on June 26.

“It was unanimously agreed that all cargoes and containers that have overstayed their required time at the ports should be auctioned “in-situ” (in their current locations) and removed immediately from the ports,” she said.

Moltok said that to ensure transparency and inclusiveness, the modalities to govern the auction process would be finalized by all stakeholders.

She said this would be after a similar sensitization meeting with stakeholders in the eastern ports of Warri, Rivers, Onne, and Calabar.

It will be recalled that Mohammed Bello-Koko, the Managing Director of the NPA, had at several forums sought the cooperation of the NCS to ensure the speedy removal of overtime cargo from the ports and terminal yards.

This is to free up space and preserve the durability of the capital-intensive port infrastructure.