Shippers: Maritime Industry Critical to Economic Growth.

The Shippers Association of Lagos (SAL) has said that apart from oil and gas, the maritime industry, is vital for the country’s economic growth.

Jonathan Nicole, the association’s president, said in an interview yesterday in Lagos that for the government to reap the rewards of the sector, it must look at maritime issues and provide long-term solutions.

He said that if the Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, could earn roughly N2 trillion, maritime agencies such as the Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA, and the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, could generate similar sums.

“Looking at Nigeria Customs’ income, they were able to rake in N2 trillion, demonstrating the dynamism of Nigerian importers and shippers.”

“In spite of the enormous challenges, the constant increase in income of the customs remains the same. So we commend the efforts of the trading community, they have done well

“We feel that we should have been able to do more to support the government but the challenges are enormous sometimes we wonder if the country cares, because the bills we pay are also enormous.

“This is in spite of the fact that we try as much as possible to cooperate with government regulations and keep up with the expectations of government,” he said.

Nicole pointed out that shippers also expect government to reciprocate their efforts, saying as at now, there are no palliatives for shippers at all.

He said that shippers pay too many bills, adding that what they used to spend like N10,000 on before now has gone to about N200,000.

Source: vanguardngr.com