President of the National Association of Stevedoring Companies; Mr. Bolaji Sunmola has raised alarm that terminal operators and cargo surveyors are trying to take over the jobs of stevedoring contractors, in this interview with Shipping Position Daily correspondent Dapo Olawuni, he opened up on the steps taken so far to ensure that stevedoring profession does not go into oblivion. He also talked about the crux of the recent visit of members of the House of Representatives Committee on Marine Safety, Administration and Education to the associations' secretariat in Lagos.
“The minister of transport is a honourable man, he has a wide experience, he has governed a state, he has ran an assembly, but he doesn't know about maritime”
You held a meeting recently with members of the House of Reps committee on marine safety, administration and education, what was it all about?
The crux of the meeting is about telling the people who are the custodians of the law to look into what is happening to some of the laws they have made and the ones they have not made, I thank God that as part of their oversight function, they deemed it feet to visit us, this has never happened before to us in this industry and we really appreciate it. The reason we had jaw –jaw with them was to tell them some of the pains we are going through, the ones we have gone though in the past and the ones we might likely go through in the foreseeable future, it is not just good for them to sit there in Abuja and not know what we are going through, but now they have seen and they have heard now, and I am sure that what is now left is for them to take the pathway and see how to redress the situation, our nation must be seen to be on the part of the law and not against it.
What is the update about the outstanding payments NPA owed stevedoring companies?
There is no money owed again, the money is for the work we have done which was being owed and not paid, but the new Managing Director without any delay, she authorised that payment should be made quickly and that has been done. So, today, to the best of my knowledge, NPA no longer owes tally clerks and on-board security men.
The concession agreement is undergoing review, what would you like to change in the agreement?
We insist that the concessioning agreement is against the NPA Act, it is not a law but only an agreement, at different fora where I have taken this up, they argued that an agreement is as good as a Bill, but when you have a Bill, I don't know which one comes before an agreement, any agreement you are going to have should not be in opposition to what is in the Bill and this is what we feel. The NPA had a concession but they didn't look deeply at the modus operandi in the industry, it is important to look into how your industry is organised, how is it structured, if all these are going to change, then the entirety of that Bill needs to be changed, and when there is any loophole which has made my members to be affected, we are ready to block them.
Can you summarize some of your request to the lawmakers?
Just like I said earlier, they are the custodians of the law, if you are going to operate anywhere, you need to get their rules and laws, thank God that Nigeria is not a banana Republic, it is being guided by rules and laws, and we are operating within these rules, and when the chair is now being shifted from our bottom by some kind of clandestine arrangement, it is better to go back to the rule of law to see why it is so, and where it is faulted, then the right thing must be done. What we are trying to do is to cry out to the government to come and save us, they should not let this industry to die, it is an industry that is even older than Nigeria and it must not just be wished away like that, we have a stake in this nation and we must be allowed to prosper. For now we are hearing that the work of tally clerks is about to be contracted to cargo surveyors, this needs urgent investigation by the government. Private jetty operators have also refused to accept stevedores and stevedoring companies appointed by the Nigerian Ports Authority, the duties of loading and off-loading of cargo in these areas belong by law to registered stevedoring companies, it is obvious that government is losing a great deal of revenue due to this anomaly.
Are you satisfied with the role and performance of NIMASA in all of these?
We have always worked very well with NIMASA, a regulation is being worked out, we have collaborated with NIMASA in the introduction of the regulations which will be launched soon, it is widely known as the 'stevedoring regulations'. We still wish we can work more with them, we have found some areas that the regulation did not even cover, and it’s just for us to ensure that all loopholes are covered so that we can strengthen this industry. Don't forget that it is not all about laws, the wherewithal to perform must also be given to us, we can only perform where the law enables us and where the government supports us, we as private sector are ready to make this huge drive to turn the maritime sector around for good. As registered and licensed stevedores under the NIMASA Act, we are demanding a monopoly of the job and protection from any form of encroachment by other unauthorised port users, seeking for contracts within the terminals.
Your members raised alarm about terminal operators taking over their jobs, how is this happening?
This is one roles that is not well-defined, the terminal operators are just warehouse managers, their modus operandi and purpose should not involve cargoes from vessels, let's go back to various reports that have been done on integrating cargo handling, cargo handling on-board vessels and on-shore is well regulated internationally, and there are operatives that discharge the cargo to the key side, and there are operatives that bring the cargo to the warehouse, the operations of the terminal operators as they are being called in Nigeria is to manage the cargoes in their warehouse, are they also to provide services? Why don't they put trailers on the road to move these cargoes to their various destinations, it is not their responsibility, their responsibility is just warehousing and providing the necessary environment to ensure that cargoes are safe for you and I to go in and remove our cargo and leave. But what are the terminal operators doing now? They do not even compete for cargoes, all of them just rest on their oars and expect cargoes to come to their terminal, there is no competition.
How have the tally clerks and on-board security men been coping since their contract ended?
The contract ended but the service is still yearning to be rendered, it is true that the contract has been terminated and this is what we are saying at the point of law, what the law says is that the contract should be awarded for a certain period of time, but this does not bring the life of that business to an end.
Is there any hope that government might re-award these contracts?
All we can continue to do is to appeal to the government for them to see reason as to why the decision of the NPA is wrong, the bone of contention is payment, the terminal operators are taking money for what they are not providing the services, they are the over-pampered babies that we have in the economy.
What has been the stand of the minister of transportation is solving these problems?
The minister of transport is a honourable man, he has a wide experience, he has governed a state, he has ran an assembly, but he doesn't know about maritime, he is just coming newly into maritime and so he would depend on the advices that are given to him. I make bold to say that some of the advice given to him in terms of tally clerks and on-board security were not too good, but he has to take a decision and this is why he is at the helm of affairs, and the decision he has taken are as good as the advice he was given.
Have you made efforts to reach out to him?
We have made efforts and we would continue to make efforts, this is our life, even if it takes us 10 years, we would continue to make that effort. Don't forget that stevedoring is over 75 years old. Stevedoring activities have remained regulated since the inception of the Nigerian Ports Authority; beginning with the dock labour administration of 1967, the National Dock labour decree No. 13 of 1979, the Joint Dock Labour Industrial Council established by an Act of parliament in 1999, the joint Maritime Labour Industrial Council of 2003 and the NIMASA Act 2007. Consequently, stevedoring activities in Nigeria have been guided by law to ensure professionalism through registration and licensing by NIMASA. Complementary is the registration of all categories of dock workers by NIMASA.
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