Former acting National President, Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Dr Kayode Farinto, says terminal operators are justified in raising their charges.
Farinto, in a statement in Lagos on Tuesday, noted that the raising of terminal charges was due to the rising cost of diesel, declining value of the Naira and high rate of inflation, among other factors.
According to Farinto, the indices of working in the port now are not as it used to be as things have changed.
“The terminal operators too are Nigerians and if we juxtapose what is happening vis-a-vis the fact that there has been an increment in prices of fuel and the dollar has risen, so there has to be a rise in their charges too.
“We are in an era where you cannot predict the dollar and these people are rendering services so it becomes inevitable for them to increase. Nobody should be criticised for that.
“But I want to commend them because they are coming late in increasing their charges because I know that if it were to be the old operators, they would have increased the charges. There is nothing anyone can do about it,” he said.
Farinto also charged the Federal Government to repair the dilapidated port access roads to reduce the hardship faced by importers and their agents.
“It was in the concession agreement that the government will provide electricity 24/7 but this has not been made available. It is still the same terminal operators that are providing electricity.
“Secondly, the government must put in place all the roads that are dilapidated, particularly the access road to the seaports and I have also said that it is high time we delineated the port area.
“As we speak, we do not know which area is the port area and that is why we have miscreants encroaching on the port area.
“In delineating the port area, let us start from Ijora and if it’s along Mile 2, port area starts from Mile 2. After delineating the port area, they will also do geo-fencing so as to monitor the port area to secure people’s properties,” he said.
He noted that if the government was able to perform its responsibility, there would be no dollarisation of collecting money from terminal operators.
Farinto added that this was because as the terminal operators pay in dollars, they would also transfer the increase to storage tariff.
He also commended the government for lifting the forex ban on 43 items, which could hitherto not access foreign exchange on the official market.
Farinto said the ban caused inflation and encouraged false declaration in cargo clearance.