Importers and exporters are losing billions of naira weekly in form of demurrage and storage cost caused by incessant server failure of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).
The server, according to some importers, crashed about eight days ago and that since then they (importers) and manufacturers have been having problems accessing it to perform online transactions.
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Customs licensed agents at the nation’s premier seaports, Apapa and Tin-Can Island ports, who spoke to our correspondent claimed that the development has been hindering seamless discharge of cargos at the ports.
The agents and importers also claimed that they have incurred huge debt as they have not been able to clear their goods since the problem started about a week ago.
They also claimed that their inability to clear their cargoes have caused them huge demurrage from shipping firms as well as terminal operators.
A Customs Licensed Clearing Agent at Tin-Can Island Port, Chief Obi Azuka, said there has been a recurring failure of the customs server, a development which, he said, has hindered him and other agents from clearing their cargos from the ports in record time.
He described the fault as frustrating as importers were made to shoulder demurrage running into billions of naira as shipping companies and terminal operators have turned deaf ears to their pleas.
“Webb Fontaine manages the customs server and they are paid. Government should sack them if they cannot perform,” he added.
The Coordinator of the Apapa branch of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Mr. Frank Aliakor, said the server failures peaked recently and that for three days in a week, the service was down and no transactions could be done.
“There have been fluctuations in the server activity. Webb Fontaine has been a monopoly; there is no other competitor or service provider, and this problem of server failure is hampering trade and causing delay.
“The clearing agents and importers are paying demurrages. It is not supposed to be so. We expect the server system to work 24 hours so that trade would be facilitated.
“Sometimes, we discover that even at the Customs Processing Centre (CPC) the server is not working, also at the terminals and bonded terminals, it is not working, so what do we do.
“Sometimes, the downtime is up to five hours and the officers would seat doing nothing. Sometimes, for a whole day, officers would seat doing nothing. Webb Fontaine needs to upgrade their systems, as without that nothing can be done.” he said.
Abdul Subaru, a customs clearing agent at Tin-Can Port, said he has not been able to access the server since the problem started last week. “I cannot clear goods given to me by my clients and I am sure that I will pay over N5 million in demurrage when the issue is eventually resolved.
“Government should shift the overhead cost to Webb Fontaine and not importers as it had been the case in the past,” he added.
He lamented that at the end of the day, nobody will compensate the agents or the importers for the several hours of delay and accrued demurrages from shipping companies and terminal operators.
The Public Relations Officer of Nigeria Customs Service, Tin-Can Island Command, Uche Ejisieme, who confirmed the issue said the problem has been a recurring challenge but that the good news is that the server started to function well on Thursday.
“I believe that Webb Fontaine, who are the technical backup providers, are really working round the clock to rectify the issue. We sincerely feel the pains of our licensed agents as well as the government.
“Well, it’s a challenge to everyone. But it is instructive to note that the issue of server failure is not the purview of the customs as the federal government contracted it to Web Fontaine who is the technical service providers,” he said.
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