The Nigeria Customs Service has summoned seaport terminal operator; APM Terminal over alleged poor services to port users and the collection of double charges.
Customs Area Controller in charge of Apapa Command, Mr. Musa Jibrin stated this yesterday at the monthly stakeholders meeting of the command in Apapa, Lagos.
Jibrin stated this after clearing agents and freight forwarders at the meeting took turns to lament the alleged atrocities of the terminal operator.
Some of the allegations against the operators border on constant system failures, poor equipment for cargo examination, as well as collecting double fees from port users in form of cargo examination charges.
Other complaints made known to the Area Controller of Apapa command at the meeting include: overlapping functions of security agencies at the seaport and blocking of containers by the Marine Police unit.
The Customs boss said that the service had earlier gone round the APM Terminal and is aware of all the irregularities going on. He said that this has led to Customs headquarters summoning the concessionaire.
As regards Police interfering in cargo clearance which the clearing agents always lamented about, Compt. Jibrin assured that the command intended to have a forum with all security agencies operating in the port.
He told stakeholders at the meeting that: "We have itemised the problems with APMT, we have gone round, we have interviewed operators within the terminal and we are in the know of the problems"
"Right about now, APMT has been invited to our corporate headquarters in Abuja in order to revisit some of these challenges that we are having currently"
"The APMT are private people and they look for their clients, they charge appropriately for the services they want to give those clients, but it looks like what they do now is double taxation".
Also speaking, Vice President, Shippers Association Lagos State (SALS); Chief Chris Keme alleged that APTM charges N41,000 as container examination fee.
He however lamented that because of the 100percent cargo examination by Customs, occasioned by the recent importation of 661 guns at the Apapa port, APMT has refused to bear the cost of examination, rather, they shifted the payment on freight forwarders.
"APMT is charging us N41,000 per container for examination, because of what happened the other day, Customs insisted that all containers should go on 100 percent examination"
"APMT has now shifted that responsibility to the clearing agents to pay the labourers, the labourers are now charging N10,000 from freight forwarders otherwise they would abandon the cargo, yet APMT has collected N40,000 for this service", Chief Keme disclosed.
He noted that before port concession, NPA was charging N1,750 as customs examination fees, but APMT charges higher fee and is not paying it's stevedores to do the job.
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