Shippers Council Seeks More Funds To Regulate Ports

The Executive Secretary, Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC), Mr Hassan Bello, says that the council needs more funds to execute its mandate as Port Economic Regulator.Bello stated this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Lagos.You may recall that this added function to Nigerian Shippers Council was given about one and a half years back.With that, the Nigerian Shippers Council must seek for more funding for it to enable it execute its mandate as an Economic Regulator.What is more important to us now is to see that the maritime industry has become a revenue earner to Nigeria.Has become another alternative for revenue for Nigeria and in that case, we encourage all the stakeholders to come together and initiate reforms in their respected jurisdictions.So that the maritime industry would be strategically placed to provide employment to Nigerians.To provide revenue for Nigeria; to create wealth and also to encourage the provision of modern transport infrastructure.He said that it was regrettable that the issue of tariff in Nigerian ports had become a big task, adding that the council was working toward modernising the service structure.According to him, it is regrettable that the issue of tariffs in Nigerian ports has become extremely tasking.He said that their hands are tied by the numerous court cases.Bello noted that as an officer of the court cannot speak on issues that are before the court, but I would venture to say that we are making efforts to see that we provide alternative avenues to settle all disputes.He pointed out that litigation should be the last option, especially when the avenues have not been exhausted.Executive Secretary promised to streamline the tariff structure for service providers.We will also negotiate these tariffs and make sure that all tariffs are tied to services; that all tariffs are justified and competitive, he said.He said what Nigerian Shippers Council and the industry are against is fixing charges arbitrarily, unilaterally, disregarding the laid-down procedure.Bello, however, urged ports operators to collaborate in establishing fair and competitive tariffs. (NAN)
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