NAFFAC wants designated ports to handle specialised cargoes

As part of measures to ease the lingering traffic along the Lagos port coupled with congestion at the seaports, the National Association of Freight Forwarders and Air Consolidators (NAFFAC) has suggested to the federal government to designate some of the terminals to handle specialised cargoes.

National President of NAFFAC, Prince Adeyinka Bakare in a chat with our correspondent, called on the government to convert some of the terminals for export while others can handle specific imports.

According to him, the designation of some ports to handle specific cargoes have yielded positive results in China, adding that government conversion of some facilities to handle certain goods would address most challenges at the ports.

“If we want to decongest Apapa port for instance, then we must clamour for specialised port administration to tackle the bottleneck we are faced with in Apapa.

He also noted that port business can thrive when the ports are competitive, pointing out that specialisation of cargoes would make Tin Can Island port compete with  Apapa port favourably adding that attention can be diverted to terminal where a particular cargo is handled.

Citing instance about how specialised terminals have aided trade facilitation, Bakare noted that “China ports benefitted from specialized administration because what Shanghai port handles is quite different from what Guangzhou port is handling .

All these ports have different cargoes that they accept separately, that are some port in China that handles only finished products and with that in place, both ports in Lagos can compete.

NAFFAC chief opined that activities at the ports will not be diverted to a particular terminal as focus on a particular kind of consignment will be decentralized.

He said APMT, Ports and Cargo Handling Services and Tin Can Island Container Terminal (TICT) are specialist in containerized consignments and should concentrate with only such kind of cargoes.

He also stressed the need for government to designate one of the terminals in Lagos for exportation of Nigerian produces in a view to expedite prompt shipment of cargoes out of the shores of the country to effect balance of trade.

He noted that conversion of specialized administration ports would address challenges faced in the Nigeria ports.