The Federal Government has expressed displeasure with terminal operators who fail to pay the Practitioners’ Operating Fees or POF. The Minister of Transportation, Mu’azu Sambo, remarked during his three-day fact-finding visit to Onne Port in Rivers State to determine why the port was not operating at its maximum capacity, according to a statement from the Director of Press & Public Relations, Eric Ojiekwe, on Friday. The Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria imposed a fee known as the POF. Before a container leaves the port, it must have the fees paid by the consignee. the minister issued a warning that terminal operators would no longer be permitted to engage in such behavior.
Sambo reaffirmed the government’s commitment to realigning the Onne port to take full advantage of its enormous potential for export and import trade. Sambo stated after consulting with stakeholders that they will develop short-term, medium-term, and long-term plans on how to overcome those obstacles and make the ports productive, Mohammed Bello-Koko, managing director of the Nigerian Ports Authority, said the government was serious about growing traffic at the eastern ports to relieve congestion at the Lagos ports
The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency have deployed assets under the Deep Blue Project that would be working with the Nigerian Navy to improve security along the waterways. Earlier, Naved Zafa, the managing director of the West Africa Container Terminal, stated that as part of the terminal upgrading and development project, they have acquired sufficient cargo handling equipment at our terminal to boost the efficiency of the port. He continued by stating that the port complex had recently received a new scanning device from the Nigeria Customs Service.
He asserted that the scanner will speed up cargo processing and reduce dwell time while facilitating trade, ensuring security, and significantly reducing the entry of illegal products by unscrupulous individuals.
