The Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) have decried effects of bad roads on ease of doing business in the southern part of Nigeria.
They, therefore, urged the Federal Government to speed up action on the East-west Road dualization.
Mr Mike Ebeatu, Chairman, Onne Seaport chapter of the association disclosed this on Monday while briefing journalists in Onne, Eleme local government area in Rivers.
He noted that several attempts to woo shipping companies to the south were being truncated due to poor road infrastructure in the region.
“As customs agents, we strive so hard to attract shipping companies to this part of the country.
“Recently, a shipping company through our efforts decided to start operations in Calabar Port, I took the company to the Aba business hub to help canvass patronage and the feedbacks were quite impressive.
“Today, the company has shut down operations because of poor road networks across the region.
“For instance, a supposed one hour journey between Onne Port and Aba business area now takes as much as 24 hours to achieve.
“ If there are good roads to the Ports, there’s the tendency for more business turnover and activities across the South-south and South-eastern part of the country,” he said.
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The ANLCA boss however, assured on commitment to strengthen synergy with the Nigerian Customs as it strived to ensuring compliance on trade facilitation policies in the country.
”ANLCA is committed to promoting the values that will unite stakeholders and generate more revenue to the federal coffers,” he added.
Lamenting challenges on cargo clearance at the ports, the Chairman urged Customs to ensure harmonious documentation.
“Our major challenge in cargo documentation and clearance at the Port is lack of harmonious system alerts from the Nigeria Customs Service and the various units of customs agencies, especially in the area of cargo valuation.
“There is also the issue of multiple Customs interventions on our roads too, these have affected our productivity and Service delivery to prospective importers.” Ebeatu said.
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