UNLESS the report of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) now probing the activities of the concessionaires managing Nigeria's gateways differs from the claims of port users, some terminal operators may lose their jobs.The fear that the operators, who won the contracts to run the ports in 2005, may be sacked is heightened by the Federal Government's directive to the BPE to probe the alleged poor performance of the concessionaires.When the government privatised the seaports, the expectation was that having freed them of bureaucratic bottlenecks, the facilities would be more efficient under private operators.The concession scheme was intended to quadruple cargo handling and productivity at the ports, cut operating costs by 20-25 per cent ($65 million-$80 million each year), reduce port charges by 20-30 per cent, save port users about $70 million-$100 million yearly, reduce the cost of imports by five to 13 per cent and generate within 10 years period $2.5 billion, and grow the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by five per cent.Six years after, the targets have allegedly not been met and with disturbing reports that the ports were in a worse state. This development has forced the government to begin the assessment of the performance of the concessionaires against allegations that they have failed.The Presidential Task Force on Port Reforms, which is mandated to ensure the speedy resuscitation of the ports and sanitise the industry, has swung into action.Apparently to avoid being accused of being too hasty and to comply with due process, the Task Force headed by Finance Minister, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has allegedly ordered the BPE, which sold the ports to investigate the activities of the concessionaires.It was learnt that the BPE has the mandate to terminate the contracts of those found to have failed in meeting the contractual terms.There have been widespread reports that most of the concessionaires have not met the terms of the agreements they reached with the government during the privatisation of the ports in 2005.Already, the government has wielded the big stick against Messrs Queen Leigh, operator of the Koko Port terminal in Delta State. The government sacked the firm for its fitful handling of the facility.The concessionaire was accused of operating the port terminal for a few years and abandoning it.Three years ago when the concessionaire was still operating at the port, it allegedly failed to comply with the agreement in areas of safety and environment.The government through the BPE led by former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Malam Nasir el-Rufai, had concessioned the seaports to private terminal operators.The scheme involved the sale of all government's assets at the ports, including those owned by the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) to the concessionaires, which included AP Moller Terminal Limited, ENL Consortium Limited, Five Stars Logistics, Tin-Can Island Container Terminal Limited, and Bulk and Cargo Limited.But Okonjo-Iweala in a chat with journalists during a recent visit to Lagos, said the government was only monitoring the concessionaires to ensure that they were operating in line with the agreements they reached with the government.She had said the need to monitor the terminal operators' activities was in the nation's best interest, because there had been a series of complaints from port users about their operations.According to her, the BPE would study and scrutinise the process used in the concession of the terminals, especially in the areas of port infrastructure, investment and tariff.'In the meantime, we shall be overseeing the work of the port concessionaires, so we can get them to move. We shall be looking at the bid process closely to ensure that they have the needed equipment. We shall also ensure that the investments they are supposed to make are made. And we will be looking at the issue of tariff and cost, which they operate, if they are in line with the contractual agreements,' she said.The Finance Minister said President Goodluck Jonathan was committed to the turnaround of the maritime industry, adding that the time had come for Nigeria to assume the hub of trade for West and Central African regions.Under the concession arrangement, the BPE has the power to terminate the contract of any operator found to have defaulted in its obligations.When contacted yesterday, the spokesman of the Sea Terminal Operators Association of Nigeria, Bolaji Akinola, told The Guardian that the BPE had been carried along by the concessionaires, asserting that the programme had transformed the operations at the gateways.He said: 'The investigation is welcome. But port concessioning is a great benefit to the country because it has increased revenue for the government. For me, the port concessionaires have performed well and made Nigeria the hub of West and Central African region.The BPE has been monitoring the activities of the port concessionaires. It is only those who wish the country evil that will say concessionaires have not turned around the ports,' Akinola said.But legal expert and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Olisa Agbakoba, told The Guardian that the National Assembly needed to extend its probe of privatised agencies to the maritime sector, especially the sale of the ports in 2005.He said the probe of the maritime sector would help Nigerians and the investing public see that the ports concessionaires had not fulfilled their pledges with the government to turn around the gateways, as a market-driven sector of the nation's economy.Agbakoba said 90 per cent of the investment requirements the ports concessionaires pledged to undertake during the signing of the agreement in 2005 were not met, due to government's inability to appoint an economic regulator for the industry.He said the BPE should be held responsible for the woes in the sector, which had led to its dominance by foreign shipping companies to the detriment of local operators.Port users have also petitioned the Presidency that the terminal operators and shipping companies were into arbitrary port charges.President of the International Freight Forwarders Association (IFF), Chief David Okutalukwe, told The Guardian at a media event in Lagos recently that time had come for government to review the agreements it signed with the port concessionaires.He said the move was the only way to end the continued hardship experienced by freight forwarders, adding that the operators had failed. He said their only business was the imposition of arbitrary port charges on port users.Some of the terminal operators by the contract terms are to run the ports for between 10 years and 25 years.The Guardian learnt that since colonial rulers set up some of the seaports in 1921, there have been no serious efforts to re-develop them, a goal the concession deal aimed at achieving.
Click here to read full news..
