Most of the toilets in the terminals are bad; in fact, in some cases there are no toilets
In this interview with Joshua Yousouph, Deputy President General, Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria; Comrade Tonye Harry speaks on barge operation. He also defends dockworkers against allegations of unclean habit in the terminals.
Can you introduce yourself please?
I am Comrade Tonye Leonard Harry. I work with the Nigerian Port Authority (NPA). I have been in the union for more than two decades. I have held several positions in the Union and today I am the Deputy President General of the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN). I happen to also be the Co-chairman of the alliance between maritime and the Barge Operators Association of Nigeria (BOAN). I am not a Barge Operator; I came into Barge operations as a result of the collaboration that came to be between BOAN and the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria.
There is the fear that barge ownership and operations in Nigeria is gradually being taken over by foreigners. Do you share this claim?
First and foremost, I will like to say it is just within this period that barge operation has come to maritime operations. Before now, we have barge operations in the Niger Delta areas as a carrier of crude and liquid cargo. That is what we used to know barge operations for. This is because the way the barge is built, the inside is a carrier and not the top. But now because of the congestion that took over the access roads to the ports, there was an alternative arrangement for those barges to come to be. Before the access roads were cleared, we came to understand that barge operations have come to stay. This is because as at that time, the barge operations gave succor to both the freight forwarders, transporters, commuters and what have you. So, barge operations have come to stay. However, the barges like I said earlier were not designed to carry containers. So, we are looking at it that, since barge operation has come to stay, there should be a pattern to what it can handle with regards to the kind of cargo that is within the port system. If you ask me, I will tell you that the barge operation is capital intensive. It will only survive if whosoever that is into that business has enough capital. Without that, it will be difficult for indigenous operators to survive in that business. More so, now that the roads have been cleared, any investor will look at it as an option unlike when the roads were congested when they know if you don’t use barge, you would either not get your cargo on time or you would not be able to send out your export on time. You remember the losses that took place during that era when the roads were very congested and you couldn’t access the ports through the roads. So it is capital intensive.
Secondly, these foreigners who are coming to take over or dominate barge operations have the capital; they have the funds and they are into the business. So I think it will be difficult for the indigenous operators to compete with them. But then, there is what we call local content. These barges are within our local waters. The government should look at how to help our local operators. There should be laws which I know that the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has such laws like the Cabotage Act to support our local operators. This is because the barges are not ocean-going. They are within the inland waterways. So they should not allow foreigners to have prominence over our local people within the local inland waterways. My advice will be that; it is better for relevant regulators to give them that support to ensure that the local content arrangement is well taken care of.
Most of the barges used in the Niger Delta are being moved to Lagos for container operations. Is that not a disservice which may lead to a great loss to operators in the Niger Delta, since the barges are supposed to be mini-tankers rather than containers carriers?
The barges can do dual functions. There is a hole inside and there is the top platform. The platform can as well carry some good and containers. But one thing that we should be very careful about is what they carry. We should ensure that any barge that is within the inland waters should not carry more than its capacity. In fact, they should carry less than their capacity. For instance, if a barge of 15,000 metric tons should be carrying for instance 16 containers, for safety purposes, it should not carry 16 containers. It should carry 13 or 14 containers because it is not easy. If there is an accident, it will be very difficult for us to clear the waterways and that is why NIMASA and NPA are really looking for a possibility where they can streamline their operations. So it will be difficult and that is my own candid advice. Instead of carrying the actual capacity, why not carry less. It is just between some few nautical miles. Why not just go and discharge, then you come back in order to avoid unnecessary accidents.
Some barge operators have complained that difference in charges by terminal operators is eating into their operational costs. Is there a way to control this?
Definitely, there should be a way. That is why we have regulators. The Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) is the economic regulator of the maritime industry. I think this question even if I will manage to answer it is supposed to be a question for the Nigerian Shippers Council. However, I know that the Barge Association of Nigeria are in a very good relationship with the Nigerian Shippers’ Council. These are some of the things they need to put in place. There is a common axiom that says a village that does not have a king will do whatever they like. And when you don’t have a king, it means you don’t have laws or rules. But when a rule is put in place and there is someone to regulate and enforce them, we know that there is going to be sanity among the people who stay around there. For me, I think the Shippers Council should come up with something. This is because as a barge operator, if I take my cargo to ENL and ENL is giving me a different charge, and by the time I enter AMPT, AMPT is giving me a different charge, there will be disparity and it does not augur well with the business, because we are all doing the same business. One thing I know that should differ should be the type of cargo you carry. This is because a laden container will not have the same charges with that of an empty container. Of course, when you are transporting a lorry through barge, the charge will be different. It is good to have a uniform way of doing things and it is the Shippers Council that can help us regulate that.
There are allegations that dock workers refuse to use the Personal Protective Equipment materials given to them and some refuse to use the appropriate restroom and decide to ease themselves at the quay sides. Is this true?
That is not true and it can never be true. If you remember, 2020 was the year that the world was hit by Corona virus and you remember also that the maritime industry was allowed to operate within that time. Through the leadership of the President General of the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria, Comrade Adewale Adeyanju, we were coming to work on a daily basis. Our members from all over the terminals in Nigeria were all coming to work and we took it upon ourselves to visit the port every day. We tried to ensure that every worker wears his or her Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). In the course of our going round, we discovered that some stevedoring contractors and some terminals don’t even provide these PPEs. These PPEs are just like clothing for work. When you give a worker PPEs which consist of the overall, socks, boots, helmet and in some cases glasses, face masks and gloves; and he or she refuses to use it, then it is at his or her detriment because the port environment is considered as a hazardous environment. The Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria stands to say that whosoever is alleging that dock workers refuse to wear PPEs is not saying the truth. If he is a stevedore or terminal operator, he is hiding under the fact that he has not provided PPE for his workers. The President General had to call one of the stevedoring contractors (name withheld) to tell her that we will not do any operation until she provides the necessary PPEs and facilities. So, we are so concerned with the welfare of our members. There is no way we will have PPE and we will not wear it, except for the fact that they were not provided. I have gone around the port and I had time to visit some of the toilets. There is no sane human being who will see a toilet and go to poo somewhere that is not safe. If you go to the quay apron to poo, are you not endangering yourself? Except that person is insane. Provide toilets and they will make use of those toilets. Some few weeks back, I joined my President General to commission the ‘Labour House’ at TICT. You should go there and see the toilet. So if you provide a befitting toilet and bathroom, who will skip that and go to use somewhere else. As I speak to you, if you go to the terminals and see their toilets, some don’t even have toilets or where the labour will relax and wait for their work shift. Some of these terminal operators are lacking. There are things we need to do and we know what to do. It is only that we are just allowing them because of the economy. Most of the toilets are bad; in fact, in some cases there are no toilets. The only one that is benefiting as I speak to you which we can go and confirm for yourself is TICT in Tin Can which was just commissioned some weeks ago. Till now, some terminals don’t even have any space where you can bend down to freely ease yourself. Those are the issues. I must tell you that the claim is not true.
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