Following last week seven day ultimatum given by freight forwarders operating at the seaport, there are strong indications that operations at the Tin Can Island Container Terminal (TICT) and some other terminals in Lagos may be shut down today if demands are not met.
Following last week seven day ultimatum given by freight forwarders operating at the seaport, there are strong indications that operations at the Tin Can Island Container Terminal (TICT) and some other terminals in Lagos may be shut down today if demands are not met.
Shipping Position Daily investigations within the freight forwarding circle revealed that the players with the backing of their various associations are already warming up to picket the TICT terminal as a result of the numerous complaints which surrounds current policies on cargo clearance and congestion at the terminal.
Sources disclosed to our correspondent in Lagos yesterday that there was an indoor meeting of freight forwarders held yesterday on how to stampede port operations at the Tin Can Island Port today.
Our correspondent also gathered that the threat of the industrial action gave rise to the visit of the Minister of Transport, Senator Idris Umar to the port over the weekend where he met with operators.
The freight forwarders lamented that politics has eaten deep into Nigerian port operations, even as they vowed that there is no going back on the move by agents to storm the port today.
The source said, "the port may be shutdown tomorrow and this is due to the barrage of issues raised by freight forwarders"
It would be recalled that freight forwarders had given a one week ultimatum from the Tin Can Island Port Chapter of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) for the TICT to reverse its current policies on cargo clearance or else the terminal will be closed down by clearing agents.
Though the freight forwarders had initially planned to picket the terminal last week, it however had a second thought by first issuing an ultimatum, giving the terminal a seven days opportunity to correct its wrong policies.
Speaking with Shipping Position Daily via telephone last week, Secretary of the ANLCA Tin Can Chapter, Mr. David Chucks Kanikwu said that the terminal is demanding that agent receive their terminal delivery order from shipping company before their cargoes can be positioned for examination.
He alleged that the terminal is trying to create a diversion from the instructions handed down to them recently by the Senior Special Assistant to President Goodluck Jonathan on Maritime Affairs, Mr. Leke Oyewole.
Shipping Position Daily also recalls that Oyewole had directed the immediate stop to vessel allocation to TICT by the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) until the terminal clears the over time cargoes within its terminal and provide more equipment.
"They are not giving us international best services because we end up paying for services not rendered, the cost of transaction at our port keeps increasing and people keep running to neighboring ports"
"We gave TICT seven days ultimatum, if they don't reverse what they have done we will shut down the terminal" he warned
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