COVID-19: NSC Posts Personnel to Monitor Adherence to Safety, Health Guidelines at Terminals
Container depot
The Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC) has decided to post its personnel to terminals to ensure that safety and health guidelines are strictly adhered to so as to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
The Council said the measure was in view of the importance of the continuation of port operations as essential services and to protect customs agents who want to clear goods at the ports.
In a statement signed by the Deputy Director, Public Relations, Mrs Rekiya Zubairu, officers have been assigned to the various shipping companies and terminals to assist in ensuring that all safety and health regulations issued by the authorities are strictly adhered to during these times.
The ports economic regulator said it cannot overemphasise the importance of all port
users, particularly freight forwarders, conducting themselves responsibly and adhering to health guidelines as they go about their very essential business.
In a related development, underscoring the importance of port operations, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr. Boss Mustapha, had during the daily COVID-19 briefing in the past week, referred to his conversation with the ES/CEO of Nigerian
Shippers’ Council, Mr. Hassan Bello, in which it was confirmed that some banks had agreed to open for business in the Apapa axis for a limited number of hours in order to facilitate port operations.
The SGF explained that at the onset of the lockdown, banking halls had been marked out as potential risk zones for Covid19.
However, a review of that thinking became necessary when it emerged that banks had to open for people to pay custom duties and other charges.
The Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) and its counterpart, National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) have expressed concerns that shipping services providers have failed to create an environment of social distancing for customs agents who clear goods at the Lagos ports.
It would be recalled that President of ANLCA, Iju Tony Nwabunike and NAGAFF President, Chief Increase Uche told SHIPPING DAY last week in a separate chat that the situation in which agents clear goods at the ports was very chaotic and one in which the ravaging coronavirus was not taken into consideration.
The two blamed shipping companies, terminal operators and banks for failing to make provisions for social distancing, adding that the agents were cramped either in a room or outside without observation of social distancing.
According to the two Presidents, the biggest problems facing the agents was that none of the service providers and the banks was providing full services, adding that agents who came to the ports struggled among themselves to be attended to during which the need for social distancing was abused.
The two who noted police harassment on members also called on agents who have no cargo to clear at the ports to remain at home to check the risk of spreading the COVID-19 pandemic.
It was also gathered that officers of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) at the ports were also not observing social services among themselves and customs agents.
NAGAFF’s Special Duty Officer, Rev. Emmanuel Agubanze, had also in a statement urged freight forwarders who have no business at the ports to remain at home.
Agubanze who called on other associations to join NAGAFF in its ’situation room’ reminded the shipping companies to obey the directive of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) on waiver of demurrage at the ports.
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