MWUN Strike: NPA Aquires 13 Acres of Land for Electronic Call-Up System
By DAPO OLAWUNI
Even as it has prevailed on the leadership of Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) to shelve its planned 3-warning strike, fresh indications have emerged that the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has acquired a 13acres of land at Orile, Lagos in order to boost its Electronic Call-Up System for trucks.
The electronic call-up system is expected to commence in January, and this would address the menace of trucks littering Nigerian port access roads.
Speaking with journalists in Lagos on Wednesday, President General of MWUN, Comrade Adewale Adeyanju explained that the Managing Director of NPA, Hadiza Bala Usman has given assurances on major demands of the union and this was why the strike action was suspended.
Apart from the NPA boss, Comrade Adeyanju said the Executive Secretary of Nigerian Shippers Council also appealed to the union to shelve the strike.
He said the NPA boss was able to convince the union that the electronic call-up system would address most of the challenges at the port, as it has acquired a 13acres of land for truck park.
He lamented that due to traffic gridlock on the port access road, investors have abandoned Nigerian ports to other neighbouring countries while empty containers are littering the port roads.
“The management of NPA invited us, we were there for almost 5 hours, this is the first time the union is signing an agreement with the responsible management of NPA, all the items raised at our NEC meeting were treated point by point, from the way Managing Director explained things to us, we were convinced, and we decided to giver her a trial”
“She assured us that from January 2021, things would normalise. On the issue of truck park, she promised to work with the Lagos State Government, the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, LASMA and so on”
“She said the agency has acquired 13acres of land at Orile where trucks would be parked” he said
Comrade Adeyanju also assured the NPA of the unions’ support in the actualisation of the electronic call-up system, assuring that he was equally going to sensitize the truck owners under the aegis of Coalition of Maritime Truck Unions and Association (COMTUA) to key into the call-up system because it is for the benefit of everyone.
“To us as an organised Labour, let the management of NPA come out with what they want to implement on the electronic call-up system and we would support them”
“The NPA MD said some stakeholders were not willing to key into the project, but we have assured her that if 70% are ready to key in, they we should give it a trial”
“The truck owners should have a garage to park their trucks, the union also has its own trucks but we dont park them on the roads, but most people have turned the port access roads to their holding bay” he lamented.
Meanwhile, in the communique signed at the end of NPA’s meeting with the union, a copy of which was obtained by DAILY TREND NEWS, the authority said it would ensure that all shipping companies aquire holding bays that is commensurate with volumes of containers they bring, failure to adhere to this would attract sanctions.
According to the communique, “All shipping companies are to be responsible for moving empty containers from their holding bay to the port for evacuations. Consignees are to drop the empty boxes at the designated empty containers holding bay, failure of the shipping companies to remove the empty container at the holding bay will result in sanctions”
