The Apapa Command of the Nigeria Customs Service has decried the high cost of transferring overtime containers from the port to government warehouse in Ikorodu, saying that it is working out modalities on who should bear the cost.
Speaking with Shipping Position Daily last week, spokesperson of the command, Nkiruka Nwalla said that the Customs Area Controller, Compt Abubakar Bashir is holding meetings with the Apapa Port Manager of the Nigerian Port Authority (NPA); Aisha Ali Ibrahim and the port concessionaire, APM Terminal on modalities to move the containers to the warehouse.
While lamenting the increase in the cost of transportation of containers from Apapa port, Nwala said it costs N550,000 to move a single container from Apapa to Jibowu.
"To pick a container from Apapa port to Jibowu is N550,000, so for now, the modalities to get the containers out is being worked out. NPA, APMT, Customs area working it out"
"Using barges is not also cheap, some are using train and sometimes you will see that the train broke down, it is a whole lot of challenges but talks are ongoing. Even for barges, where and where are the clear routes for barges to sail through?"
"The comptroller has met with APMT, Customs and NPA port manager, the question is who will foot the bill, the containers have accumulated, even there are some that have been here before APMT was concessioned"
"We are gathering the figure on the number of overtime containers" she told our correspondent
Nwala said that compiling the list of overtime cargoes is a complicated issue, saying that there are some clearing agents with genuine cases who finished all necessary clearance but due to the bad road network, they couldn't pick their containers.
"We have had a meeting with NPA, overtime cargoes means after twenty eight days, but for the past one year, you can finish clearing your cargo from the port and for a whole month you will not get a truck to go in and move it out"
Comptroller Bashir had at a recent stakeholders meeting in Apapa announced that over 1000 Pre-Assessment Reports (PAAR) are not used by importers.
On this, the Apapa PRO said, "We are still working on the unused PAAR, it is a system based work, we are going to trace them and find out why. We in customs will check out records and identify those unutilized PAAR"
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