By Uzor Odigbo
Months after President Muhammadu Buhari commissioned the first Inland Container Depot in Kaduna, the Shippers Association of Lagos State (SALS) has lamented the high cost of transportation from Lagos ports to the hinterland.
This has also frustrated importers interest to patronise the Kaduna Inland Dry Port (KIDP).
SALS President, Rev. Jonathan Nicole, while speaking in Lagos, noted that transfer of containers from Lagos port to Kaduna via road is quite expensive to importers and thus not workable.
According to him, the Kaduna Dry Port has no business advantage to the importers, hence shippers are not ready to run at a lost.
“To transfer containers from Lagos to Kaduna by road is expensive. Even the local cost at a time was N1,000,000 to a container and that is not the end, because the importer will go there, perform all the normal processes and then ferry all his containers to his warehouse.
“When you look at all this factor, you find out that these are some of the reasons importers are not ready to use the Kaduna Inland Dry Port.
“It is better for them to clear their containers from the port in Lagos and then ferry them to the hinterland.”
According to him, government has failed to encourage shippers in line with the executive order on the Ease of Doing Business.
Nicole noted that the federal government has failed to maintain and build infrastructures in the sector, forclosing the need for the creation of a maritime ministry.
The SALS boss said with the establishment of such ministry, the challenges that has bedevilled maritime negligence would be addressed.
He further described government policies on the maritime industry as a policy somersault, saying appointment of half baked chief executive officers in some of the agencies has made the industry to suffer many setbacks.
“The establishment of a maritime ministry would reduce the burden of the ministry of transportation and that is key for shippers to bring in more vessel.”
Though ministry of transportation is doing her best but the country ports can function better when a ministry of maritime is created.
He called on the government to refurbish and put the necessary infrastructures in place to aid the eastern ports workability.