Yemisi Izuora
The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has called for a policy framework that will help cushion the effect of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) on some ministries and departments of government.
The Council at the end of its meeting today in Lagos though commended the TSA implementation because it will help reduce leakages of Government revenue and improve fiscal stability of Governments of all levels but said some ministries and departments of government are facing serious challenges.
A statement by the director general of the council Muda Yusuf at the end of the meeting noted that there is a need to put in place a framework that would ensure that the operations of the income generating Ministries Agencies and Departments of government [MDAs] are not crippled.
“Evidence of these are beginning to manifest in some of the government agencies as the day to day operations of some of them are already being affected.
Financial obligations to suppliers and contractors are not being met, for instance. It is therefore necessary for the Federal Government to ensure that funds for operations of agencies whose activities impact directly on the economy and citizens welfare are made available promptly, without compromising the ideals of the TSA” the statement urged.
The LCCI appreciated the introduction of the system pointing that it will go a long way to improve the transparency of the fiscal operations of Government.
The LCCI Council noted the presentation of the first batch of the long awaited ministerial list to the Senate by President, saying that evidently, the absence of ministers had created a vacuum in the governance process hence the need for an expeditious consideration of the nominees by the senate.
The Council underlined the need to ramp up the momentum of governance at the federal level to facilitate the delivery of value to the people.
The statement also expressed grave concern over the deplorable state of roads leading to the Lagos Ports – Apapa and Tincan Island Ports.
It noted that these Ports account for over 60 percent of the cargo into the Country and an estimated 70 percent of customs revenue.
“The poor state of the roads has had multifarious effects on the private sector, economy and the citizens.” It said.
The council listed some of these effects to include, risk to the lives of citizens arising from Containers falling off the trucks as a result of bad roads as several lives have been lost in recent past as a result of this, congestion at the Ports resulting from the delay in the evacuation of cargo from the Ports.
Others include, high demurrage paid by importers to Terminal Operators and Shipping Companies as a result of delay in the clearance and evacuation of cargo in the Ports, high cost of transportation for evacuating cargo because of the prolonged engagement of the trucks by importers arising from the delays and serious traffic congestion along the roads leading to the Ports, which often spills over into the Lagos Metropolis causing severe traffic jam and loss of man hours in Lagos.
It further observed that it causes delays in getting raw materials and other inputs from the Ports to the factory premises in Lagos and other parts of the Country.
The Council therefore urged the Federal Government to fix these roads as a matter of utmost urgency as these are Federal roads.
