By Meletus EZE
The National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), has called for inclusion of freight forwarders in the proposed committee for the review of ports concession in the country.
NAGAFF President Dr Increase Uche, made this known while speaking with newsmen on Wednesday in Lagos.
The Federal Government had announced plans to review the 2006 ports concession agreement with private operators.
“All of us are witness to the anomalies being experience in our ports today and this is largely because from the onset of the concession critical stakeholders were not involved.
“It will amount to a continuation of maladies if the federal government fail to co-opt ports users into the review panel after over 10 years of agitations for review,’’ Uche said.
According to him, the way the concession is presently structured is ripping Nigerians off to the advantage of the operators most of whom are foreigners.
Uche expressed happiness with the planned inclusion of the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) in the committee, saying it would add value to the output by providing some technical support.
“Freight forwarders, shippers and the transporters are the people that wear the shoes; therefore they know where it pitches; it will not be in the national interest for them to left out,’’ Uche said.
He assured that ports users, especially NAGAFF would be readily available to support the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and other agencies towards an evolution of a standard port concession blue print.
