Car dealers operating at Berger Automobile International Market have cleared the air over alleged selling of smuggled vehicles at the market, which has overtime sent wrong signals to prospective buyers.
The operators lamented that such allegations against the foremost fairly used vehicles’ market negates customers’ patronage which in turn can jeopardise car sales in the market.
Investigations carried out by Auto Port Weekly, recently revealed that buyers are now afraid of patronising the Berger automobile market following series of allegations that the market harbours smuggled vehicles.
Our correspondent who sampled opinions from the car dealers in Lagos confirmed that buyers are afraid of the market because of alleged duty evasion by the dealers.
But, speaking with our correspondent on development, Chairman, Popson Park at the market; Mr Moses Ilima lamented such comments, saying such allegations are from competitors from other fairly-used markets across the country.
According to him, any buyer who wishes to confirm the authenticity of vehicle in contention should seek that from the Customs office nearby.
The car dealer explained that, "people will always like to give a dog a bad name so that they can kill it, therefore it is not true that our cars are not genuinely-cleared from the ports"
"And these are some of the things they have told buyers of used vehicles for so many years, yet they can't competing with us".
There are so many places in car dealership that have closed down and form alliance with Berger dealers and that is the bitter truth"
"We urged the buyers to come and check, the customs themselves come here to check"
"They shouldn't be afraid anymore because before you buy any vehicle; all you need to do is to take the documents and verify from customs and those are some of the antics the car dealers do to scare customers away from this market", he stressed.
Corroborating the development, another dealer; Samson Adeoye said that car dealers at Berger market have reaffirmed their commitment to redeem the image of the market.
According to him, the dealers relate with Customs on a day to day basis for confirmations of the status of fairly used vehicles being up for sale.
He added that, "so many negative information has been disseminated to the public about Berger market, but the truth is that we are genuine car dealers and our vehicles are not smuggled ", he maintained.
Also speaking, another dealer; Mr. Chimankpa Okwudili decried the wrong perception of buyers about the market, saying that smuggled vehicles have no hiding place in Berger Market.
Okwudili lamented that it was unfortunate that buyers have a negative impression about the market, saying that the market remains the only place where cheaper vehicles are sold.
Truckers Wants New NPA GM Western Ports To Review Truck Standardisation Policy
Truck owners in Lagos have appealed to the new General Manager Western Ports, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA); Mr. R.A Gadamosi to revisit the standardisation of trucks plying Lagos seaports , saying that the project is a failure.
They also want the General Manager to put in place measures to address the influx of sub-standard trucks that have access to the ports.
The truckers maintained that the last exercise did not yield positive results, thus no achievement was recorded on the controversial entry permit system for trucks. It was introduced by the NPA as part of efforts to regulate trucks’ movement into the ports.
Speaking with Auto Port Weekly, in Lagos, the Vice Chairman, Dry Cargo section Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO),Alhaji Abdullahi Inuwa said the scheme was a failure, and that rickety trucks still gain entrance into the ports in Lagos without proper regulations.
Inuwa called on the GM to meet with truck owners and relevant stakeholders in the haulage business to proffer lasting solution to the poor state of the roads leading to the ports.
The dry cargo haulage expert maintained that nobody checks the controversial sticker permit as promoted by the former GM, adding that the nature of trucks doing business at the ports is still the same.
He stressed that without fixing the roads leading the ports there is no way standardisation of trucks can be achieved.
Also speaking on the controversial issue of truck entry permit, a chieftain of the Joint Council for Seaports Truckers (JCOST); Alhaji Isiaka Olalere stated that truck standardisation has been in existence for long and there is need for government to fix the roads for policy to be effective.
Olalere stated that the policy on truck standardisation was a welcome development, but noted that the right infrastructures were yet to be put in place by the government.
The RTEAN chieftain called on the GM Western ports to liaise with the Managing Director of the agency in resolving the challenges of sub-standard vehicles parked along the ports arteries.
According to him, "even new trucks cannot stand the test of time on our ports’ access roads"
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