CONTAINER TRANSFER CONTROVERSY

APMT: Apapa Customs is Selfish
CUSTOMS: No, APMT Monopolises Container For Own Terminal

The controversial issue of congestion and block- stacking of containers has pitched both the management of APM Terminals; a concessionaire in Apapa port against the port’s Customs command as both parties last week engaged each other in a bid to explain the avoidable delay in cargo clearance and delivery in the port.
First to engage in buck-passing was the commercial officer of APM Terminal, Mr  Koer De Baker who told members of the ministerial task force a the terminal that the Apapa Area 1 command of the Nigeria Customs Service does not allow APMT to stem containers to off- dock terminals, not even to its sister facilities at Lillypond Container in Ijora.
He alleged that the customs command is doing this so as to collect revenue for is command alone to the detriment of other commands, even as he lamented that the customs can not match the pace at which APMT works.
The disclosure infuriated members of the task force who couldn’t wait to meet with the Customs Area Controller (CAC), Alhaji Abudkadir Azarema for clarifications.
The chance eventually came mid last week in the course of the team’s visitation to other operational areas of the ports. When asked to react to the APMT’s allegations, the customs boss.
“Apapa has 10 bonded terminals under it, we shall be glad if APMT allows them to be fed with containers, but they insist on Lillypond, I will be glad if they can transfer containers to these bonded terminals”, he told the Mrs Chinwe Ezenwa-led task force.
Defending his command further, he told the team that: “we are not against it; I will however want the containers to be transferred to bonded terminals under Apapa command, please appeal to PAMT to allow containers to go to bonded terminals, there are Customs officers there, and the terminals are licensed by the Government”.
Comptroller Azarema also gave an insight into why pre-scanning has failed in the command, explaining that when he resumed a few weeks ago, he suggested to Cotecna that pre-scanning should resume, so that according to him, things can work faster.
According to him, Cotecna actually resumed the process, but lamented that it stopped barely one week after. They (Cotecna) said that APMT said that it is costing them a lot.
Azarema equally pointed out that APMT is not prepared for the volume of cargo that they are seeing in Nigeria and that the company does not have adequate cargo handling equipment to handle the volume of cargo in its terminal.