Former Commissioner of Transport in Lagos State, Dr. Kayode Opeifa has blamed the presence of over 50,000 unreturned empty containers in different parts of the country for the hike in freight rate to Nigeria.
Opeifa, who spoke to newsmen, also blamed extortion and other forms of corrupt practices at the port for the empty containers littering the country.
Opeifa, who was the Executive Vice Chairman of the disbanded Presidential Task Team on the Restoration of Law and Order in Apapa, noted that the high cost of demurrage on these containers has always led to the contentions faced at the ports.
He said although the increased freight charges are a global issue, the COVID 19 pandemic contributed to the surge as there was low repatriation of containers by shipping companies.
Opeifa charged the Federal Government to capitalise on the global scarcity of containers by ensuring a moratorium period for importers, where nobody pays demurrage for containers.
He, however, urged that the government also mandate’s shipping lines to use that period to evacuate all the over 50,000 empty containers in Nigeria at no cost to the owners.
The former commissioner said with the excess containers littering around, the government would have used the opportunity to market the return of those containers, especially as the world is looking for containers.
He, however, alleged that it is in the interest of some people to keep the containers in Nigeria, as they capitalise on demurrage to make money from importers.
He said to address this issue of extortion and excessive charges at the ports, the shipping line must be made to pay the cost of the containers, as they bring it from wherever it is to the port and take it out.
Opeifa also stressed the need for port efficiency through the use of technology, while enjoining regulators, terminal operators and other players to ensure a single-window platform, where all activities will be monitored for easy facilitation of port operations.
