Nigerian govt worried over terminal operators’ N5tr debt

 . Says it causes port infrastructural decay
The Federal Government has raised  alarm over some terminal operators inability to meet up with their financial obligations of N5trn which has been pending under the port reform agreement,  a worrisome situation that has affected the Maritime infrastructural growth. This disclosure was made recently by the Federal Government, represented by the Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE), as well as the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) whereby the tripartite agreement have been endorsed on the  port reform programme, which stripped however the NPA of its cargo handling functions and transferred the authority’s responsibility to the terminal operators, who are supposed to pay some percentages on tonnage.
According to Senator Kabir Gaya, Deputy Chairman, Senate Committee on Marine Transport, who lampooned the terminal operators for failure to remit their financial obligations to the government under the Port Concession Agreement, that has impeded much damage to the Maritime industry on the government Inability to carry out infrastructural upgrade at the Ports which has affected the nation economically. 
He admitted that there had been huge infrastructure gap at the seaports, which  negatively has encouraged operational defficiency, adding that the continued delay in meeting their financial obligations is running into trillions of naira. 
He said the most worrisome challenge is the gridlock witnessed at Apapa and it’s environs as well as Oshodi Expressway still locked down by trucks due to the poor state of the roads, and while  defending  government position said that if the  terminal operators have cleared their debts several infrastructural development would have emerged. .
The Senator, who also doubles as Chairman, Senate Committee on Works, revealed that the government is currently working on over 34,000 kilometer of roads across the federation, which has very huge financial implications, most especially going by the shortfalls of revenue government had received in the past few years.
The Chairman also disclosed that the federal government is working out modalities on tinkering with the idea of contracting the roads to private investors due to the massive indebtedness and the dwindling revenue, which had given rise to the Public Roads Bill, an Executive Bill currently at the National Assembly waiting to get approval.
He said that he agreed with  stakeholders that informed the Committee of the deplorable state of the access roads at the nation economic gateway, thereby maintained that government is presently working on over 34,000 kilometer of roads across the country. That is why there is need to call on private investors to come in, rather than the government which might bring more delays in infrastructural development of the maritime sector,  he said. 
Recalled that some terminal operators owe the government trillions of naira, which should have been deployed into road infrastructure upgrade. Therefore urge the debtor terminal operators to pay up the unremitted tax revenues to enable government come up with a blueprint in terms of road infrastructure upgrade for business flow. 
He assuredly explained that the gridlock would soon dissappear from the port feeder roads, because government is making frantic efforts to ensure that the Tin Can Island Port Truck Terminal becomes operational before the end of the first quarter of 2019, which in effect will take some trucks off the road.
That Chairman, Seaport Terminal Operators’ Association of Nigeria (STOAN), an umbrella body of all the terminal operators said recently that government should endeavor to review the Guaranteed Minimum Tonnage (GMT), which will form the basis of a new payment schedule. She argued that the country’s cargo throughput at the time the port concession agreement was made reduced drastically, a development that requires a downward review of the GMT, which may also form the basis of the review of the concession agreement