The Nigerian Shippers’ Council, NSC, says it is currently working with the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission, ICRC, on a new operational framework for the Inland Dry Ports, IDPs, spread across the six geo-political zones of the country.
Director of the Inland Containers Nigeria Limited, operators of the Kaduna Inland Concession Depot, Hon. Tony Nwabunike, said this while rebutting claims that Northern state governments and business tycoons are not patronizing the regional dry port.
Nwabunike who is also the National President of the Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents, ALNCA, also allege that there is a conspiracy by foreign shipping companies to sabotage the KICD which he says is currently operating at optimal capacity with a few hitches associated with the land transactions and other documentations believed to be fraught with irregularities. This he says stems from the non existance of ICRC at the takeoff of the IDPs.
A fresh guideline which would give rise to the signing of a new set of agreements to make for a more progressive regime that would eliminate whatever encumbrances there may be in the system is expected to commence at the Nigeria Shippers Council / ICRC.
Under the new set of agreements, the Council may issue deadlines to IDP concessionaires to forestall any form of hurdle that may further delay takeoff of full operation in the dry ports. Some of the identified bottlenecks are land documentation and Financial Capability.
Nwabunike challenged other state governments on the need to support the ICDs located in their states, while reiterating that the dry port in Kaduna is functioning optimally because of the massive support it is getting from the state government, which he said removed every possible encumbrance the concessionaire would have faced.
The Kaduna Dry Port was commissioned by President Muhammad Buhari in January 2018 to bring maritime activities closer to the northern part of the country.
Nwabunike had told reporters in Lagos that importers which the KICD is meant to serve in the northern area have not been using it as their port of destination to attract cargo traffic. He also blamed shipping companies for not giving importers the bill of laden that will cause cargoes to be taken to Kaduna as port of destination.
He also blamed shipping companies for not giving importers the bill of laden that will cause cargoes to be taken to Kaduna as port of destination.
He had stated: “Nineteen northern states of Nigeria are actually importing. The importers there are not using Kaduna Dry Port. There is need to reconsider this.
Private sector and government operators in import and export should take advantage of the dry port.
“Kaduna dry port is still in the state of trial because I will tell you the traffic is not high just for one reason. Nigeria is not doing enough export so we have not gotten enough patronage on export. Then on imports, we were supposed to be having patronage but shipping companies are not giving the importers the true bill laden to Kaduna dry ports.
”They say that 1 by 20ft container coming from China can be said to cost $3,600 on freight charges but they don’t know how much they can charge from Lagos to Kaduna on land. That’s a problem, you know when you now have a document like the bill of laden the onus is on the shipping line to ensure the consignment gets to that final destination.
“What they are doing is that they are sabotaging the Kaduna dry port by saying that the transporters are not giving them static amount of money for transporting the goods to Kaduna therefore making it very difficult for them to charge the importer. They are supposed to charge the importer from the source. If you look at it critically it is a good argument but what stops them to reach agreement with a logistic company.
“The roads are not good and trucks are not good. Sometimes the train we use is carrying only 20 containers to Kaduna. So when you look at their case, you find out that they are actually saying the truth but if for example this Kaduna dry port is owned by a foreign shipping company, do you know that those containers will be going there? That will now tell you that it is sabotage. Don’t forget that in Kano, Maerskline have a bonded terminal and they will not charge you until you get your consignment to Kano.’’ he said.
(C) Control TV 2019.
