Govt May Auction Abandoned Cargoes at Lagos Ports – Oyetola

Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola has bemoaned the huge number of overtime cargoes abandoned at the Lagos Ports Complex (LPC), Apapa, and  Tin Can Island Port in Lagos, saying the efficiency of the two ports was being threatened by the abandoned goods.

The huge number of the cargoes, the Minister said, has become worrisome to the federal government because of its ripple effect on port operations and the nation’s economy and directed the owners to clear them on time before they would auctioned by the government.

The Minister disclosed this yesterday, during his maiden visit to headquarters of the Nigerian Shipper’s Council (NSC), in Apapa, Lagos.

Oyetola, therefore, have called on the Acting  Comptroller-General, Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), to collaborate with the ministry to free up the Lagos ports, through the auctioning of the 6,000 identified containers at the port.

Sources closed to the terminal operators said the worth of the abandoned cargoes is over N200 billion.

Some of overtime cargoes, the Minister said, have been in the port since 2011 and have become nuisance to the ports and tagged their non-removal as a loss to the economy.

Cargoes are classified as overtime when they have stayed at the ports for over 30 days without clearance and delivery.

Oyetola pointed out that some of the importers might have abandoned their goods at the port because they could not afford to pay demurrage as a result of unnecessary delays in evacuating their consignment

Findings have shown that overtime cargoes occupy between 30 and 35 per cent of some of the terminals in Lagos.

Oyetola called for a concerted effort and proper measures by the government agencies at the port to address the endemic problem.

He assured that his ministry would engage the leadership of Customs on the issue so as to evacuate the cargoes .

He also bemoaned the few number of scanners available for cargo examination saying that physical examination process embarked upon by security agencies would not encourage trade facilitation and revenue drive of the Federal Government.

His words:”Well talking about the abandoned cargoes, I went on a tour, it was in Apapa port that they took us to where we have overtime cargoes. And they said some have been there since 2011. So I now want to believe that it is likely to happen in other ports. Particularly, Tin-Can and Apapa ports they have about 6000 abandoned cargoes.

“You can imagine how much space the cargoes are occupying and the type of revenue the country is loosing. So I am going to engage the management of the Nigeria Customs Service to see what we can do. There must be a time frame by which a cargo can stay otherwise declared abandoned.  To have kept cargo since 2011, it is unrealistic and unacceptable,” he said

“Marine and Blue Economy has always been there but we are just beginning to look at it in a more coordinated manner.

“This Marine and Blue Economy evolves around economic growth, improved standard of living and employment. I am charging us to be more creative by seeing ourselves as civil servants in business,” the Minister said.

The Minister however, said that he was impressed with the accomplishments of the Council so far and he promised to partner the agency in tackling the issues highlighted as requiring urgent  attention.