Boat operators along the Apapa Liverpool jetty have alleged double taxation from the workers of the Nigerian Inland Waterways Authourity (NIWA) and the Lagos State Waterways Authority (LASWA) as a fall out of the recently signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), by the two agencies on collaboration on the waterways in Lagos.
Recall that NIWA and LASWA recently signed the MOU, which covers harmonisation of tariff, enforcement and regulation of standards, unified waterways operations and creating an enabling environment for passengers and operators.
The LASWA General Manager; Emmanuel Oluwadamilola, had said that the agreement reached by the agencies would focus on enforcement of all waterways laws, adding that harmonisation and unification of operations is key to achieving safety.
He noted that tariffs, fees and penalties would be streamlined through the harmonised system put in place, adding that all payments made by operators would be designated to a single purse.
In what seems like contradiction of the MoU, a visit to the Liverpool jetty by our correspondent in a period of about two weeks revealed that boat operators still pay to both agencies, despite the agreement, two officials of LASWA were always seen on ground collecting money from the operators.
When approached on one of such visits by our correspondent as to their function at the jetty, he said “I cannot tell you anything for clarifications on why we are here, please go to our head office at Falomo, I can’t tell you more than that”, he said.
One of the boat operators who spoke on condition of anonymity told our correspondent that the MoU can only work on paper, but it cannot work on waters, as he informed that operators still pay to both agencies.
According to him,“ Well the MoU is yet to be implemented here, the MoU is only working on paper ; it is yet to work on water, we pay money to NIWA to get stickers, which is like a pass for you to operate, and also we give the LASWA officials money after loading, although there is no fixed priced as to how much they are to collect, but we don’t pay them less than N200 at times for a trip, even though they didn’t mandate it, but the truth is that they are still collecting”, he said.
Another operator who spoke to our correspondent at the jetty also confirmed that the MoU is yet to be implemented, thereby making them to pay double levies.
According to him, “before the signing of the MoU, operators were not paying to any of the two agenccies, but since they signed the MoU, we saw the presence of LASWA and this is like double tax for me, because we will pay sticker levy to NIWA and still pay another money to LASWA, this is unfair and I would want the government to look into this”, he said.
When our correspondent contacted the Public Relations Officer of LASWA Mrs. Nkechi Ajayi as to why their officials are still collecting money at the jetty, despite the MoU, she referred our correspondent to a story published by another newspaper for further clarifications.
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