Seaports Terminal Operators Flay Inconsistent Maritime Policies

Seaports Terminal Operators Association of Nigeria, STOAN, has lamented that inconsistencies in the maritime sector policies is a major obstacle to the growth of the sector.

The Chairman of STOAN, Princess Vicky Haastrup, who spoke to Leadership over the weekend, said inconsistent government policies have held the maritime industry down.

‘‘Government need to ensure that consistency in policy is applied to the economy because there are lot of inconsistencies in policies that they keep changing from time to time and these does not augur well for business owners. The maritime industry has a huge potentials if right policies are made. What the Nigerian port industry need is consistency in policies making.” the STOAN Boss said.

“The port industry doesn’t need inconsistent policies. We don’t need policy summersult. The manufacturers are bleeding right now because they cannot plan, it may be N400 to a dollar today and in another one week, it is N450.”

“That makes it very difficult for business owners to plan. That is quite scary and that is why investors are moving out of the country, investors do not have confidence in injecting finances into business in Nigeria and the reason was due to inconsistent government policies,” she said.

Haastrup who is also the Executive Vice Chairman of ENL Consortium, operator of terminal C&D, Apapa Port, Lagos further stated that private investors need government confidence which can only be achieved through consistent policies. According to her, the maritime industry is second to oil with huge potentials only if the right policies are made.

She said: “Businesses owners need consistent government policies before they can open letter of credit or source for foreign exchange from the black market to bring goods into the country.

“For instance, Customs tariff keeps changing from time to time and before it changes for instance an importer of goods will have shipped his cargo from wherever it is and before the cargo lands, Customs has increased the tariff on such cargo then that business owner is already messed up and got into trouble financially so this are all the fortunes we need to sync.

She noted that port industry has a huge potential only if the right policies are applied, adding that the port industry is second to oil it is such a huge industry because it comprised of big operators such as – Terminal operators, Truck Operators, Shipping Companies, Clearing Agents.