As NPA Prepare to Evacuate Cargoes from Ports, Five Star Logistics Terminal Offer Importers Waiver on Overtime Vehicles

By DAPO OLAWUNI

Fresh indications have emerged that one of the vehicle terminals at the Tin Can Island Port in Lagos, Five Star Logistics Terminal has offered to give importers waivers on overtime vehicles littering the terminal, in order to prevent them losing it to NPA during it’s planned evacuation of overtime cargoes from ports.

The Lagos and Tin Can Island Port Complexes and the Terminals therein including Ikorodu Lighter Terminal have over the years been occupied with 3,200 Units of overtime cars and about 3,295 units of overtime containers respectively, while the eastern ports have a combined total of 956 overtime containers.

The Management of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) under the leadership of Mohammed Bello-Koko recently commenced evacuation of overtime cargoes.

The exercise to free the ports of overtime received a boost when the Permanent Secretary Federal Ministry of Transportation Dr. Magdalene Ajani, led an inter-agency team comprising the NPA, Nigerian Customs, NCS, and the Nigerian Shippers’ Council, NSC, on an assessment tour of overtime cargoes at the ports.

However, at a meeting with customs licensed agents in Lagos on Tuesday, the management of Five Star Logistics Terminal reportedly offered importers an opportunity to pay a lump sum or Bonanza waiver on all the overtime vehicles in the terminal.

Hon Remilekun Sikiru, Youth Leader of Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) who gave the indication in a report to his members on Tuesday stated that the terminal has set the bonanza to commence on 1st of August 2023 to 30th of September 2023.

Hon Remilekun stated this as part of the discussions and resolutions of the meeting which was also attended by the Tin Can Chairman of ANLCA, Alhaji Mohammed Mojeed.

Other issues of concern discussed at the meeting includes; recent increase in charges on non-starting and forklift vehicles.

“We agreed that the charges should be properly categorized in a way that a non-starting vehicle charges shouldn’t be charged as forklift charges

“We also talked about general increase on both terminal and shipping charges in comparison with the one given at Grimaldi/PTML for a proper review and a date was set for that and going forward with the invoice of Grimaldi”

“Lastly, Five Star Logistics are gradually going automated and a 3-days training is scheduled for proper usage of the online invoice, receipt, TDO etc which will commerce on the 5th-7th of July 2023” Remilekun stated