The Chattered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT) has declared that the recently introduced Peak Season Surcharge by CMACGM on cargoes destined for Nigerian ports is a warning signal that Nthe nation’s seaports are inefficient of CILT, Mr. Paul Ndibe who said this in a chat with newsmen in Lagos recently, also said that it was obvious that during seasonal peaks, there were lots of congestion which according to him, would also create idle time for ships that were waiting to be unloaded.
Ndibe maintained that the charges were being raised by the shipping companies not for the purposes of increasing their profit level but for the purposes of addressing incidental costs that would arise as a result of delays during peak periods.
He argued that it is left for the government to reorganize the system such that the peak season problems would not be there again, saying that if they were not there anymore, the shipping lines would not impose it on customers.
"They are charging because they exist and there is no solution to it and they cannot continue to incur such costs. So, it is left for us to look at that and try and see how we can ameliorate that so that they (shipping lines) would not have the need to introduce such costs, because they need to be in business and they need to absorb all their costs in order to be in business and to do that, they have to transfer the cost to the next person”, he argued.
He advised that: “if as a nation we felt it is out of place and we know that what they are doing is for a particular purpose, it is left for us to address and put in shape our roads, put in good shape our clearing processes, put in good shape even our ease of doing business processes, so that it will be seamless and when that happens, of course, there will be no need for all these charges”.
Speaking further he reiterated that the Nigerian Shippers’ Council as an economic regulator should be aware before such a cost is added.
“Cost is involved and that cost will be borne by somebody else. So, there should be a line of discussion and agreement on that and of course, Shippers’ Council should be aware of such introduction of the charges and accept that it is in the best interest of the shippers" he said.
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