Operators of barges are in disagreement over how much is charged by terminal operators before a barge can be allowed to discharge at the terminals.
Recall that a barge operator and the manager of Ajilo Jetty, Mr. Ifeanyi Imion, had few weeks ago, accused ENL terminal of collecting a minimum of N600,000 before it will allow a barge to offload at the terminal.
He also attributed the high cost of moving containers to Tin Can and Apapa port to the charges being collected by terminal operators.
According to Imion, “a window (a full loaded barge of six trucks) at ENL now is about N600, 000 that is a loaded badge which normally carries six trucks. And for you to drop one truck there at ENL, you have to pay N100, 000”.
But, refuting Imion’s claims, another barge operator, Mr. Yinka Bakare told our correspondent in Apapa last week that ENL does not collect N600, 000 per window, even as he said that most of the trucks coming to the terminal are destined for AP Moller Terminal (APMT).
He explained that what ENL collects per container on a barge is N20, 000 even as he challenged Imion to come up with a receipt to prove that he actually paid N600, 000 ‘per window’ to ENL.
“If anybody says he is charging N600, 000 let the person come up with a receipt or any evidence of such charges, as I am talking to you now, I can bring an evidence of how much I pay. People should come up with facts, I am a unionist and an association person, but we don’t fabricate lies just because we want to eat, we should be able to come with proof.
They (the terminals) collect N20, 000 per truck and maybe if you add VAT to it, it will be N22,500. I can show you invoice to buttress that it is so ridiculous. The person that is saying he is paying N600, 000, how much is he collecting from truckers and how much will he pay to the jetty, that he will say he is paying ENL that amount of money these are some of the questions you should ask”.
“Let us also know that the destination of these containers is not ENL terminal, the destination is APMT which also depends on how many containers APMT will receive. At times we offload and they will ask us not to bring any barge and to clear the ones in their terminal first, let them go through APMT and they will make arrangement for APMT to open the back gate
“As at today, it is only CMA CGM that APMT that are accepting their empties to come through that back gate. So if you bring in containers that are not CMA CGM into its terminal, the whole terminal will be flooded with trucks meanwhile its own operation will be pending”
Meanwhile reacting to this, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of ENL terminal, Princess Vicky Haastrup said that it is impossible for ENL to collect N600, 000 per window, even as she charged the barge operator to come up with evidence of payment and also name the person he paid the money to.
“It is not possible for anybody to collect N600, 000 per window, how much are they making that they will collect such amount of money from them or anybody, how much are they even paying ENL and how many trucking are they even doing. Just tell the person who told you this to name the person he gave the money to because I don’t want it to be a situation of his word against ENL.
The person who gave that information should be bold enough to come to the CEO of ENL I don’t know any of the barge operators, so advise the person to call me. The person should not accuse ENL as a company, because the company is not collecting such amount of money from anybody and we don’t have such levy on barging operators. For him now to be mentioning ENL is wrong because the terminal as a company does not impose such levy, ask him if the levy was imposed by ENL”, she stressed.
Seaport Terminal Operators of Nigeria (STOAN) Haastrup, nevertheless said that ENL is the cheapest when it comes to barge operation.
In his response, the General Manager, External Affairs of APMT, Mr. Daniel Odibe said that the terminal as at May 2020, handled 11, 000 containers by use of barging of containers through the terminal as against the use of roads.
According to him, the terminal has allotted slots for shipping lines for their empty containers.
“As part of efforts to reduce trucks on the Apapa port access road, APM Terminals Apapa and Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) last week restored the evacuation of containers by rail from the port. The terminal introduced two daily rail connections to Alagomeji Terminal in Yaba and Ijoko Terminal in Ogun State. With the connections, trucks can be deployed to both locations to collect containers and return empties, which the Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC) will convey back to the port” he explained.
Also speaking, the chairman of the Corporate Fleet Owners, Mr. Leye Thompson said, “whatever they are going to charge the terminal operators I am sure it is the barge operators that pay that, but that is the money they charge on each truck. On the issue of the truckers paying for the trucks at the terminal, it is not true; when you pay the money to the barge operators they are the people that will settle the terminals”, he said.
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