Clearing agents who have office spaces at the Tin Can Island Port Complex (TCIPC) have reacted to allegations by the General Manager Public Affairs of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Capt Iheanacho Ebubeogu that the agents do not have NPA's permission to occupy the complex.
Chairman of the complex; Chief Chukuemeka Shedrack told Shipping Position Daily that the occupants have a subsisting tenancy agreement with the Seaview Properties Limited, a subsidiary of NPA, and that they have been paying the agency for more than 20 years.
Capt Ebubeogu had told Shipping Position Daily last week that there was no agreement permitting clearing agents to occupy the container office complex.
However, copies of correspondences and receipts made available to our correspondent yesterday showed that each of the containerised office pay not less than N127, 000 as rent per year to the NPA.
Notwithstanding, Chief Shedrack made a renewed appealed to the Managing Director of the NPA, Mallam Habib Abdullahi to suspend the eviction notice issued to the agents or provide an alternative space for them.
"It is funny for a General Manager in NPA to say that our staying here is illegal, we have been staying here since 1993 and we are paying to Seaview Properties Limited, a subsidiary of the NPA, they handle the properties of Nigerian ports and we pay all these money to them, how come they are now saying that our staying here is illegal"
"Some of us have been here for more than 20years, if we are staying here illegally, they would not be collecting money from us.
All the tenants here all have agreement letters, offer of space and receipts of payment", Shedrack argued.
He lamented that several letters have been written by the agents to the MD of NPA, but up till now he has not granted them audience to talk to him.
"We are appealing to him to reverse the quit notice and allow us to stay, they have many spaces here they can fix us instead of asking us to go out", he stated.
He stressed that the occupants of the office container complex were doing legitimate businesses and raising revenue for the Federal Government.
Shedrack recalled that members of NAGAFF and ANLCA whose offices were removed from PTML had rented offices at the container complex.
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