Terminal operators lament auto policy may, sack workers

FUNSO OLOJO

Terminal operators at the Lagos port have continued to rue the biting effects of the automotive policy of the Federal government which they lamented have cut down the activities at btheir terminals.

Mostly hit were those that specialize in handling vehicles such as Five Star Logistics and Port and Terminal Multiservice Limited(PTML).

However, the management of PTML, who has hitherto complained of the gradual dwingling of its operations as a result of the policy, has declared that it was under pressure to shed its workforce due to low business activities.

It was gathered that the management may have make good its threat when it reportedly sacked over half of its workforce due to its inability to pay salaries.

The terminal operator who operates a Roll-on Roll-off terminal at the Tin Can Island Port Complex Apapa had been going through lull of business since the introduction of the auto policy in 2014.

Although, the Managing Director of the terminal, Asconio Russo had recently mull job loss saying the company may be forced to downsize if the policy continues.

It was gathered that the workers at the terminal had been on strike since last week to protest the laying off of workers.

According to an inside source, the terminal operator had laid off half of its workforce and gave the laid off workers N250,000 pay off package which they reportedly rejected.

The activities at the terminal had been grounded with clearing agents not able to clear their cargoes over the protest.

The aggrieved workers were asking the management of PTML to slash their salaries instead of laying them off.

“Activities at the port have dried up because of the auto policy. Workers have been on strike at Grimaldi since last week Monday because the management laid off some of our colleagues and gave them N250,000 but they preferred their salaries to be slashed rather than outright layoff’’, the source disclosed.

The Managing Director of Port and Terminal Multi-services Limited (PTML), the largest vehicle-handling facility in Nigeria, MrAscanio Russo, in February, had profusely lamented that the auto policy of the Federal Government has affected the importation of vehicles into Nigeria by as much as 50 per cent.

The same story of lamentation came from other operators of the specialized facilities, RORO ports in the Tin Can island ports, who declared that their operation has been seriously hampered by the policy.

‘’The figures we have seen is that the volume of vehicles being discharged in Nigeria has dropped by 50 per cent, these are actual figures. Last year, the whole of Lagos we were receiving 25,000 vehicles every month, but now it is 12,000 vehicles.

‘’At the same time, we have noticed that the volume of vehicles going to Cotonou has increased dramatically, so everybody can understand what this means, we are losing business, Cotonou is gaining business and we know that their population has not doubled, it is still the same number of people that are there’’, the PTML boss had bemoaned.

TundeKeshiro, the General Manager of the PTML, recently reiterated the downward fortunes of the concessionaires when he declared that the situation has not improved.

He noted with great pain that the cargo holding space in the terminal is half empty, a development which he claimed was the worst ever experienced since the commencement of the concession exercise.

Mr  Keshinro said that the policy on vehicle importation is of general concern to the operators, adding that for obvious reasons, there has been a significant drop in the volume of vehicles imported through the terminal.

According to him, the space that is currently available is more than the vehicles imported, saying that in 2013 and 2014 respectively, the facility experienced massive importation of vehicle but regretted that the situation has taken a turn for the worse.

He added that vessel call has dropped and there has been low patronage from importers and freight agents, whom he said are clients that make business to thrive at the terminal.

‘’PTML is just one of the terminals handling vehicles and for obvious reasons we have experienced decline in the number of vehicles imported and discharged in our facilities and today I will say we have an under utilised space in the terminal’’, Keshiro observed.

‘’The space we have now is much more than what number of vehicles the company handles.

‘’Looking at last year and the year before, you will find out that the records show that the terminal is always full of imported vehicles with high number of customers as well who want to obtain services from us. So in a way, what we have seen is that we have recorded a significant drop in the volume of vehicles coming to the terminal’’, he further noted.

The operators have declared that if the situation does not improve, they may be forced to lay some of their workers off. They also stated that their monthly revenue remittance to the Nigerian Ports Authority(NPA) in terms of royalties ans cargo dues, may be affected.

‘’The numbers of vessels coming to out terminal have significantly dropped likewise the volume of vehicles which we handle have nose- dived. Then where do they expect us to continue to meet the monthly target of the money we remit to the NPA?’’, an aggrieved source queried.

If we increase our charges in the face of the dwindling cargo and vessel call in order to break even, there would be an uproar. This has placed us in a serious dilemma’’, another source noted.

“Before the Ex-President Jonathan formulated the auto policy, three vessels loaded with vehicles call at PTML in a week but now it is difficult to have one vessel in a month. The vessels that bring in about 2000 vehicles and over a 100 containers now bring in 20 vehicles and 10 containers of vehicles,”, another respondent declared.

He lamented that the country is losing business to neighboring countries, especially Benin Republic.

“We are losing our customers to the neighboring countries. The port has dried up and workers have been laid off,” the aggrieved worker lamented.

The lull in operational activities has also affected the revenue performance of the Customs command at the terminal.

Even though, Steve Okonmah, the Public Relations Officer of PTML command of the Customs could not be reached for comments, Customs source claimed that the downturn in the operational activities have equally dipped the revenue profile of the Customs.