Clearing agents and freight forwarders operating at the PTML Terminal have again kicked against the terminal operator’s resolve to control the number of people entering into the terminal every day.
The agents during a protest on Tuesday at the PTML Terminal at the Tin Can Island Port, accused PTML Terminal and her shipping company; Grimaldi Shipping of swindling agents and asking them to pay N10,000 to obtain a port access card.
They demanded that the turnstile (access gate) which was recently mounted at the entrance of Customs valuation unit be removed immediately.
Our correspondent reported that but for the timely intervention of some customs officers, the visibly angry agents were ready to lynch the General Manager of Grimaldi Shipping. He took to his heels.
Speaking with Shipping Position Daily on the development, Chairman of NPA containerised Complex at PTML terminal, Chief Chukwuemeka Shedrack said it is wrong for Grimaldi Shipping to restrict clearing agents’ access to the customs.
He said the main reason there is crowd around the customs valuation department inside the terminal is because officers do not treat documents promptly after they are submitted by agents.
"Customs knows what to do to sanitize their area, many of the officers when given document to process, they would drop it and ask you to come back hours later. Meanwhile some of the agents do not have offices arond the port. They cannot go all the way because of the traffic, so they have to wait"
"When you submit your document and customs treats it immediately, there would not be need for you to hang around, but when you submit your document, they would tell you the server is not working" he said.
Chief Shedrack demanded that the turnstile be removed immediately and Grimaldi Shipping should discontinue collection of the N10,000 as fee for obtaining access card.
Shipping Position Daily learnt that Grimaldi is demanding that agents should make payment of N10,000 to the company's lawyer while the card is subject to renewal yearly.
Also speaking with our correspondent, one of the clearing agents who was denied entry into the PTML Terminal argued that agents should not be stopped from meeting with customs.
"If the shipping company wants to put an access gate, let them put it around their own terminal. Putting access gate where customs agents are meeting customs to process their documents is not good"
"Customs and agents are the same, they cannot be separated, so the shipping company should remove the gate" he said.
However, speaking with our correspondent, Chairman of Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) at PTML Terminal; Mr Oluwole Obey disowned the protesting agents.
He assured that his association, ANLCA is in full support of the access gate and the crowd control measures put in place by customs.
Obey said that many of the crowd accessing the PTML port daily are not clearing agents or stakeholders.
The ANLCA Chairman argued that the gate has come to stay, even as he stressed that the N10,000 payment the agents were kicking against, almost seventy percent have paid the money.
He argued that before the gates were mounted, the association as well as other stakeholders were carried along properly.
"We called a stakeholders’ meeting and everybody was there, they did not kick against it then, the only thing they demanded for was an exit gate which PTML have provided. The N10,000 is not paid yearly, it is paid once in a life time"
"I am in support of the gate because the first agenda on my manifesto when I assumed office was to sanitise the PTML port" he said
Obey however raised hopes of ANLCA securing a space around the port for its secretariat office, several years that it was destroyed by the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA)
"I am tired of staying under the canopy, we have already pushed for a space for our secretariat, we are only waiting for NPA, I don't want to go against NPA, I have discussed the issue with customs and they have given us a space, but I cannot just bring a container there without informing NPA. The space is beside customs gate" he said
When Shipping Position Daily contacted the Customs spokesman at PTML Terminal, Mr. Steve Okonmah he assured that calm has returned to the port because the Customs Area Controller has intervened.
After holding meetings for several hours with the embittered agents, Okonmah said the issue has been resolved, stressing that the access gate has come to stay.
"The customs is fully behind the idea of the turnstile (gate). At the meeting, we clarified issues to both parties, after this we asked them to go and dialogue among themselves to resolve one or two issues, the gate has come to stay"
"What they are asking for is 15 cards for each licensed company while PTML is saying they cannot give more than eight, but my Controller settled for 10" he said.
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