Cargo Tracking levy
is to fund safety and security matters, NPA boss
THE Managing Director of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA)
Malam Abdul-Salam Mohammed has said that the proceeds of the newly
introduced Cargo Tracking Note levy collection is to be used in financing
safety and security matter in ports. Speaking in defense of the Cargo
Tracking levy, Malam Mohammed said that the government is not interested in
introducing any new charges neither is it bringing any new layer of
bureaucracy.
Already, port users and other stakeholders in the maritime
industry have vehemently opposed the introduction of the levy describing it as
illegal. Malam Mohammed who spoke with Vanguard in Abuja recently,
confirmed that he has received comments opposing the Cargo Tracking Note levy,
adding that most of the people opposing the levy are ill-informed.
He stated that NPA has concluded plans to have an interactive
session with most of the stakeholders in the industry with a view to briefing
them of the full details of government’s intentions and the mechanism of
implementation.
The port administrator also assured port users and stakeholders
that the government is not introducing another layer of bureaucracy neither is
it introducing any new charges. Abdul-Salam explained that over the years, many
countries have introduced a system of Cargo Tracking levy adding that the
system is used to finance safety and security related issues. Said he “There is
no intention whatsoever to introduce any new charge that is not already there, possibly
there is a charge that is being collected that has not been reaching the
country and that is what we are going to look at.
“Possibly at a certain level in the logistics chain, a
certain charge is being collected and that charge is not coming into the
country. Vanguard
NIMASA Seeks Constructive
Criticism
Director General, Nigerian Maritime Administration and
Safety Agency (NIMASA), Mr. Temisanren Raymond Omatseye has called on
stakeholders to constructively engage the management of the nation’s apex
regulatory agency on the discharge of its mandate as enshrined in the NIMASA
Act 2007.
The NIMASA
helmsman who stated this yesterday when he paid a courtesy visit to the
corporate headquarters of THISDAY in Lagos maintained that the management of
the agency is not averse to any criticism but he added that such criticism
should be constructive.
Omatseye who led top management team of the agency including the
Executive Director, Maritime Safety and Shipping Development, Mr. Ishaku M.
Shekarau and Executive Director, Maritime Labour and Cabotage Services, Mr.
Ibrahim Zilani said: “We are not saying that we should not be criticise. Apart
from the fact that we are not perfect, we are in a public office. However, we
are saying is that we should be criticised constructively. Don’t just tell us
we are doing well. Tell us the exact area we are doing well so that we can
improve on it. And if you say we are not doing well, tell us why and provide an
alternative measure or strategy. That is the only way we can grow and achieve
the purpose for which were appointed in the first place.
I strongly believe that if we do that consistently, Nigeria’s
quest to be a voice to be reckoned with in the comity of developed maritime
nations shall be realised earlier than we expected”. ThisDay
Interpol hunting
pirate money
Interpol
has seen no proof so far that terror groups like al-Qaida are profiting from
big-money ransoms paid out to pirates operating off eastern Africa, the
international police group's No. 2 said Tuesday.
Interpol will create a task force to
crack down on maritime piracy "in all its facets," said Interpol
Secretary-General Ronald K. Noble in a statement Tuesday. It did not elaborate. Owners of merchant
marine ships often feel compelled to pay ransoms to save crews and cargo.
Ransom demands linked to piracy off the Horn of Africa now average US$2.2
million, Interpol said.
"If we compare the ransoms sought today compared to those
of a few years ago, the increase has been incredible," Louboutin said.
He said he had "no certainty" that al-Qaida or an
affiliate insurgent group in Somalia, al-Shabab, receive cash from piracy.
"But nothing indicates that it won't get
there," he said.
Fee collectors in dubious
business
Barely
six months after Lagos state began to collect a wharf landing fee, importers
conveying goods across the state have accused fee collectors of extortion and
assault. The Lagos State House of Assembly, on Monday, addressed a complaint
lodged by the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents at the House in a
letter dated January 13, 2010.
According
to the letter, on January 12, two officials, Patrick Ozobialu and Ejike Metu,
the association’s chairman and secretary respectively, “were brutalised for no
reason” by one Inspector Segun Alao and other police officers attached to the
fee collectors at the Agbara collection point.
“Both
men were assaulted, battered, brutalised, leg-chained and taken to the Task
Force office Alausa like common criminals with the said police officers
shooting sporadically into the air,” the letter read. “It was like a war
situation even as the inspector was shouting that he was sent by Governor
Fashola to enforce payment of the fee or maim anyone that fails to cooperate.”
The complainants also claimed that importers were forced to pay N3,000 per
truck as fees instead of the N1,000 stated by law.
The
letter continued: “Sadly too, under gun point, drivers and their assistants are
forced to pay [additional] N2,000 or get detained.” The complainants could not
provide evidence for the N2,000 additional payment they alleged were collected,
but a receipt for the overcharged N3,000 was submitted to the House of
Assembly.
“Nigerians and foreigners alike were clamped into an
8x6 feet container and some of them beaten with iron rods on an international
route, not minding the goodwill the state government presently enjoys because
of its adherence to the rule of law,” the letter read. 234Next
