AMATO has warned of imminent breakdown of port operations
The Association of Maritime Truck Owners (AMATO) has warned of imminent breakdown of port operations, which will definitely lead to standstill in international trade and subsequent high prices of products, following the ban of truck operations in day time in Lagos.
It also warned that the federal government might experience difficulty in earning income from tariffs if the new law is allowed to stay, as the port remains the second largest source of income for the federal government.
The federal government aims to garner N1 trillion from the ports this year, but a new traffic law signed by the state governor, Babatunde Fashola, on
Thursday, which banned cargo truck movement into the metropolis in day time could deter the revenue target, AMATO warned.
By the new Lagos State Road Traffic Law, with the exception of tankers and passenger trucks, trailers are not allowed to operate within the metropolis precisely between the hours of 6am and 9pm. Offenders risk six months’ imprisonment or impoundment of vehicle and payment of N50,000 fine.
Speaking with LEADERSHIP yesterday, the chairman of AMATO, Remi Ogungbemi, warned that such a law would not only cause congestion at the ports, but would also cripple port operations, and he called on the state government to review the law.
Experts’ positions indicate that ports in Lagos receive up to 90 per cent of the country’s import and export businesses. Nigeria imports over 80 per cent of consumables and virtually 100 per cent of non-consumable products. Despite huge dependence on importation, the country has only one mode of transportation-road-with heavy traffic overwhelming the country’s roads daily.
Ogungbemi said, “There’s no way the new traffic law will not cripple port operations. The law is not the best the state can get. There should be a position where the trucks can be coming to the port. Already many of these trucks have been dislodged by the state government from places where they used to park before and as of now there are no alternative places provided.
“There’s no way such a regulation will not have a negative economic implication on the nation. The port is the second largest income earner for the country. Again, the new law exposes truckers and goods to insecurity. Even in the day time, there are incidents of loaded trucks being hijacked on the way. Our activities cannot be limited to night time.”
On possible strike action, the AMATO boss said: “We are making them understand that such policy is not the best for so many reasons. But if strike is the only language they can understand, we will not hesitate to use the weapon. The law can still be reviewed.”
Amuche Nnanna, a frontline freight forwarder operating at the Tin Can Island Port, Apapa, said: “The 48 hours cargo clearing target is further an illusion amidst other hampering factors caused by the new law. All these only amount to policy summersault and, in a nation where you have one government policy countering another directly or indirectly, you can’t expect growth and development. This is a country where citizens do not expect any form of aid from government, yet you have government riding on the citizens and dismantling economic structures not built by them, but by citizens in desperation to survive.
“In a country where there is no other means of moving goods from the ports to the hinterlands, making this kind of law is not only untimely but inimical to economic growth. If the Lagos State government wants the law to be effective, it must help in providing parks for trucks where they can stay at day time and come out at night to lift cargoes. But come to think of it, is the port working at night? I cannot imagine the kind of congestion that would be witnessed by the port if this law is enforced. I really doubt the workability of this law.”
Source: Leadership
