Apparently reacting to the dangerous spread of the deadly Ebola virus, the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) said it has issued guidelines to its employees and port community stakeholders on the virus risks. It also said in statement that was issued on Wednesday that it, has given directives about the risk factors in a port environment.
The assurance comes on the heels of a story that was published exclusively by Shipping Position Daily yesterday about the fears that were expressed by some staff of government agencies in the port about their safety. These officers are first line contact with ships’ crew in the ports.
Statutorily, officers of Nigerian Immigration Service, Quarantine Services, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) are among the few that are permitted to board ships.Specifically, the staff had complained of lack of awareness for port users and also lack of protection for them (operatives).
An immigration personnel who pleaded anonymity made reference to what is currently obtainable at the airports where Immigration, Customs and other officers are given protective gears before interacting with in-bound and out-bound passengers on international flights.
He also made reference to the ‘red alert’ that has been issued by three global shipping bodies namely: International Chamber of Shipping, International Maritime Employers’ Council, and the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) on ships calling at ports in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
He raised alarm that the fact that the alert has been given means that the same applies to Nigeria. “If they sail into those countries and finally arrive in Nigeria, what happens to us, and we are not even worried about it, ships come into Nigeria from those countries, there are a lot of seaborne commercial activities between West African nations”, he observed.
Also an employee of NIMASA, who personally called Shipping Position Daily had expressed the same fear.
The NIMASA staff , who is one of those who were recently designated as Maritime Labour Convention 2006 Enforcement Officers, equally complained about lack of awareness in the shipping community, even as he expressed worry that NIMASA has not even thought of given them any protective gears against the virus or carried out any drill about what to expect or look out for when boarding ships .
But NPA, in its statement, which was signed by its assistant general manager, Public Affairs; Mr Musa Ilya quoted the agency’s Managing Director; Malam Habib Abdullahi, as acknowledging that Nigerian Ports are gateways hence vulnerable, however cautioned port operators, especially first line contact officers against negligence when dealing with foreigners and vulnerable group.
“Malam Habib Abdullahi while expressing deep empathy for those who have contacted the Ebola virus in the course of duty, however noted that, NPA would leave no stone unturned to make sure that port facilities are Ebola Virus-free.”
Giving an insight into what NPA has done, the managing director disclosed that, “measures put in place include: the commencement of Enlightenment campaign about the origin, symptoms, mode of spread, identifying people at high risk, diagnosis, containment and prevention of infection.”
The statement added that, the medical department of the authority has equally issued guidelines to all its medical personnel on protection and prevention measures to be adopted in discharge of their duties.
These precautionary measures to be instilled in the workplace environment and in the Port terminals will be carried out in collaboration with the Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) Division of the Authority and the Port Health.
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