Capt. Thomas Kemewerigha (President Merchant Navy Association)
Any vessel not registered legally is an illegal act and the government should close down such unregistered jetty and arrest the owners.
This is important in order to curb the act of illegal bunkering by these unregistered private jetty operators.
This will serve as a lesson to others who think that they could venture into the business and get away with it.
Capt Olugbemiga Abidoye (Master Mariner, MD, GDNL,)
In the first place, they should not be allowed to operate, but if they are already in operation, they can still be checked and monitored by the government.
The government should find out why the unregistered jetties are in operation. The requirements and measures which they are meant to operate with should be checked. If these are not met, it means they are operating illegally.
Peter Osogwu (Business man)
What I want to ask is that where was the government when those unregistered jetties were being built, the regulatory bodies and the transportation ministry at the time they were built cannot say that they that they do not know about their existence. The jetties were not built in one day, it takes time. So my opinion is that since the transportation ministry is aware of their existence, they should just order them to get registered because you cannot just shut them after so many years of operation.
Femi Osofisan (Petroleum product dealer)
If there is any private jetty that is operating and yet is not properly registered and monitored, then it is the failure of all the regulatory agencies concerned and also the government because they control these agencies. Considering this issue in terms of security implications, any organization that is not properly registered or monitored can do anything and get away with it, that is, whatever illegalities that these jetties might be involving in; they can do it and get away with it.
My opinion is that when the house committee gets through with its investigations, any jetty found to be unregistered; they should get them licensed because I will not say that government should close them down, doing that might have an effect on the larger economy. However, if they find out that some are still not complying with the rules, it is only then that you can close them down.
Emmanuel Onuorah (business consultant)
Before allegations can be made that some jetty are not in order, there must have been set down requirements and guidelines on what jetty operations are all about. I am only aware of this Ibru line of jetties. In a situation whereby a firm like Sahara, for example, got its jetty registered through the DPR, which is under the government, what other registration do they need?
I think the committee investigations should lay bare all the necessary requirements that must be met in order to operate a private jetty and should make it known because constructing a jetty is not a child’s play, it is not a 20 million naira project, it is worth a lot of money so you can not just scrap them, I think what they need is to be licensed.
Captain Adewale Ishola (President, Master Mariners Association)
The issue of private jetties has been generating a lot of concerns; both in government and even in the private sector. Of course, we are all aware of the dangers in some areas which are not under control, they are either not being scrutinized or are not being monitored. The truth is: some of these jetties are not being well monitored. I think with the way the government concessioned the ports, they should also put in more efforts, identify these jetties, classify them and then do a very thorough job on them and then analyze them in a way that each jetty has to do with a particular purpose, you can privatize them, you can concession them in a proper and transparent manner so that there is a record and there is somebody in charge, for security reasons.
Government should identify these jetties, locate them, monitor them, see what they are going to do about them and then use some enforcement agencies to make sure that things are done in the proper manner
Abu Yahaya (Stakeholder)
Its high time government separates the seeds from shafts, we cannot suffer for whatever crimes our unregistered colleagues committed, and they should be punished for fooling the government and as well made to pay severely for the act.
I heard that some of these unregistered firms are owned by top men in the industry and that most tank firms are used for illegal bunkering.
There is nothing like mercy here they should be punished and removed no matter what.
Ademoroti Phillips (Stakeholder)
I work with a private jetty, but I don’t intend to mention the name, but I am proud to say that we are registered, so if the government has decided to take any measure whatsoever, we are fully prepared for it and I think those that are not registered should be removed from system. If this is done, it will serve as a lesson to others that have the intentions of coming into the system from the back door.
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