Hyacinth Chinweuba
The Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) has appealed to the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) to assist in its regulatory mandate to enhance the management of cargo traffic.
The NSC considers the plea necessary as it moves to reintroduce the Cargo Tracking Note (CTN).
The Executive Secretary of the Council, Hassan Bello, made the appeal when the Director General of NIMASA, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, visited the Council.
The reintroduction of the once abandoned Cargo Tracking Note (CTN) is seen as a direct reaction the growing spate illegal importation and proliferation of illegal arms into the country through seaports.
Bello who did not state if the scheme would attract any charge by shippers, simply called on the NIMASA boss to help in facilitating compliance for the safety of the nation.
“The Director General of NIMASA is here and he cannot go away without some request from the Council which we think should be formalised because we have always seen NIMASA as a partner that we have worked on so many things, especially the benchmarking of the freight rate,” Bello said
“We still need a lot of collaboration on the Cargo Tracking Note, for example, which we are trying to introduce because NIMASA is very important to its implementation and we want continued representation of NIMASA in the committee.
“We need compliance as economic regulator. We need compliance especially with shipping companies.
“We call on NIMASA to help us see that certain issues we have are complied with,” he mentioned,” the shippers’ council chief told Peterside.
Bello also charged NIMASA and Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) on the environmental charges both agencies collect saying it is a burden on investors.
“There is also the issue of holding bay especially with the traffic in Apapa.
” Everybody should put hands together. There is also the issue of environmental levy which both NIMASA and NPA are collecting and we have representatives from the people paying the levy that it is double taxation and we as economic regulator have to make sure that those who have invested are not over-burdened,” Bello said.
Meanwhile, while speaking on the topic: Introducing the Blue Economy Concept, NIMASA DG said Nigeria could generate $40 billion annually from underwater mining if well harnessed.
Bemoaning the fact that Nigeria still relies on natural resources, he maintained that the nation has vast abundance of resources in the blue ocean that can help to grow the economy.