The PTML Chapter Chairman of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF); Chief Goodluck Onunji has lamented that since the association's secretariat office was destroyed by Grimaldi Shipping recently, the chapter had lost its spirit of togetherness.
Speaking with Shipping Position Daily in Lagos yesterday, Onunji called on the management of Grimaldi Shipping, owners of PTML terminal to provide a place for the freight forwarders to conduct their business.
The PTML Chapter Chairman of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF); Chief Goodluck Onunji has lamented that since the association's secretariat office was destroyed by Grimaldi Shipping recently, the chapter had lost its spirit of togetherness.
Speaking with Shipping Position Daily in Lagos yesterday, Onunji called on the management of Grimaldi Shipping, owners of PTML terminal to provide a place for the freight forwarders to conduct their business.
He stressed that presence of freight forwarders at the port is very important to trade facilitation.
According to Onunji, freight forwarding cannot be practiced in absentia and that the operators have to be close to the port to be able to function.
"My message to Grimaldi is that they should have it in mind that we are stakeholders in the maritime industry, and coming to Grimaldi as a shipping company, we play much role because all of us have clients, we are the ones that advise them to ship through this terminal, they should realize this and know that we are working along with them"
"The presence of our members and the togetherness is no longer effective as it use to be, but as time goes on we know that we are fighting for the same cause"
"They should do something to get us a place, they have a place within the port that they can ask us to occupy and we expect them to do this, the earlier they do this the better" Onunji said
According to him, it is only when the freight forwarders are happy and doing well that the shipping company can get more businesses and flourish.
He noted that it is the freight forwarders that get the customers for terminal operators, adding that, "we are the people that advise the importer to make use of the terminal".
He said that since the shipping company gave the association the space it was using before, it should get another location close to the port.
He lamented that stakeholders coming to the NAGAFF secretariat to do business with it are no longer available.
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