The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has appealed to the Federal Government to introduce reforms that would give a new shape and bolster the efficiency and productivity at the ports.
Making the appeal in Lagos, its Director-General, Muda Yusuf, said that port users and operators faced major challenges and bottlenecks, due to the deplorable state of the roads leading to the Apapa and Tin Can Island Ports, and other infrastructure decay.
In the Chamber’s 2017 Economic and Business Review document released to journalists, Yusuf said that estimates from LCCI research on Maritime Ports Reform revealed that billions of naira was lost annually due to inefficiencies and shortcomings in the nation’s ports.
According to him, to enhance efficiency at the ports, there was a need to adopt and enforce an Integrated Advance Cargo and Customs Clearance System with scanning, and tracking (SST) capabilities.
He urged the government to implement the National Trade Data Centre project that would be readily accessible to all agencies, operators and stakeholders at all times to eliminate inherent abuses.
The LCCI boss said that full implementation of a Single Window Platform was a vital reform measure with potential to create immediate positive impact in the ports.
He added that there was need for more involvement of private sector investment toward building and managing ports infrastructure such as roads, rail and other critical ones.
Yusuf enjoined the government to enforce the Presidential Order that reduced the number of public sector agencies/departments operating at the ports from 14 to six.
