Even though the Federal Government has reduced the number of agencies operating in the nation's seaports from 14 to 7, findings revealed that about four of the sacked agencies still operate at the Onne port in Rivers State.
Some of the returnee agencies that were visible at the port are: Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) Port Quarantine Services, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
Shipping Position Daily correspondents at Onne port were told by an official of SON that there is a letter from the presidency which directed them to operate at the port.
The SON official (name withheld) also noted that the Onne port is not as busy as the Lagos ports; therefore there should be proper scrutiny of cargoes at the port.
According to him, the Lagos ports are the two major ports in the country that always record congestion, but Onne always has smooth flow of traffic.
However freight agents confirmed to our correspondents that all the sacked agencies that are now back to the seaport have documents from the presidency to authenticate their presence at the port.
They also noted that the returnee agencies have created hiccups and delays in the process of clearing goods from the port.
But in a swift reaction, chairman of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), Onne chapter; Sir Francis Onwuchekwa told Shipping Position Daily exclusively yesterday that the port in Onne is different from Lagos seaports.
Onwuchekwa alleged that immediately the Federal Government asked the agencies to leave the seaports in 2011, few months after, they came with documents to affirm why they needed to be back at the port.
He alleged that some personal interests from the presidency were responsible for the return of the agencies at the port, adding that freight forwarding associations namely: ANLCA and NAGAFF at Onne port have tried to intimate the agencies about the policies to ensure their compliance, to no avail.
"Those who gave the instructions for them to be present at the port, may allow it to work for their personal interest, it supersedes what happens in the port", he said.
"The agents have tried as much as we could in order to make sure that the agencies are updated with government policies, but what can we do if tomorrow you wake up in the morning and the people we are talking about show some documents on why they will be in the port", he lamented.
While speaking further, the chairman said that the document presented by agencies to operators serves as evidence, pointing out that, "some of us will ask the agencies that you are not supposed to be at the port except you are invited, the next thing you see is document ".
He revealed that the two leading associations present in Onne port had complained to the port manager of the port to advise the agencies to leave the port, but with the document in place, everyone is afraid to take action on the issue.
"They are on ground which is not supposed to be, they are supposed to come into the port to carry out some specialised duty when the need arises, but it is not so here, they are based inside the port", he said.
“Everyone is afraid to be the scapegoat because we are doing the best we know to actualise the dreams of the federal government and the same government is doing what we never expected, what else do they want us to do", he lamented.
http://shippingposition.com.ng/article/sacked-govt-agencies-return-onne-port
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