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Tuesday,
November 19, 2019 / 5.00 PM / Ottoabasi Abasiekong for Proshare WebTV / Header Image Credit: WebTV
The Convention on Business Integrity,
CBi, called on operators and stakeholders at the Eastern ports and terminal
axis, to engage the Port Service Support Portal, PSSP, domiciled in the Nigeria
Shippers Council but designed to drive efficiency and accountability in the
sector.
CEO of CBi Nigeria Mr. Soji Apampa
made this point at the end of the Port Harcourt edition of the Maritime
roundtable.
The forum which is organized by CBi in collaboration with the Maritime Anti-Corruption Network, MACN through the Business Action Against Corruption, BAAC discussed "Service Delivery at the Nigerian South-South and southeast axis of ports and terminals."
Apampa believed that continuous
engagement of the portal by the operators would provide the avenue for
evaluating the performance of the Port Service Support Portal, PSSP, which is
part of the ongoing reforms by the Nigerian government in the maritime sector.
He also noted that the CBI working
with other key stakeholders would explore more robust engagements with
government agencies at the ports, to review the standards operating procedures
that reflect the understanding of the current challenges in the maritime
sector.
Apampa said the communique and
document from the roundtable would constitute part of the recommendations to
the Port Service Committee, PSC, the central organ coordinating the maritime
sectors on how to improve service delivery at the Eastern ports in the country.
The Head of Collective Action for the
Maritime Anti-Corruption Network, MACN Mr. Vivek Menon in his remarks informed
stakeholders with membership from 145 countries, MACN has been at the forefront
of raising the integrity level in the global maritime industry.
Mr. Menon was happy to state that the
MACN played a vital role in improving the standard operating procedures at the
Nigerian ports and terminals, which led to the establishment of the Port
Service Support Portal, PSSP.
He was optimistic that the Port
Harcourt roundtable would deepen the conversation on how to achieve a safer,
transparent and efficient maritime sector in Nigeria.
In a brief presentation at the event,
Mr. Babatunde Oluwajo of the CBi revealed that 85% of the 100 people captured
in a recent port user survey, were not aware of the grievance resolution
mechanism that was provided for by the PSSP.
At the panel session that discussed
the efficiency of the PSSP as it concerns the ports and terminals, Mr. Demola
Bakare a Deputy Commissioner with the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other
Related Offences Commission, highlighted the shortfall in service delivery and
the challenge of ethics as key areas of concern to the ICPC.
Mr. Bakare assured stakeholders that
the ICPC will maintain zero tolerance for corrupt practices, and will not allow
the stigma that has stayed with the Nigerian ports to continue.
The coordinator of the PSSP Mr. Moses
Fadipe, in his intervention, said the portal had received 400 reports, of which
less than 10% has come from the Eastern ports, urging the users and operators
to embrace the platform and engage it actively.
Fadipe noted that 86% of the 400
cases have been resolved by the PSSP and decried the level of infractions
carried out by some of the shipping agents and port related government
agencies.
According to him, covert operations
have been carried out by the PSSP team, and the erring government agencies who
are culpable in the infractions will be sanctioned in due course.
On her part Mrs. Bosede Oguntuberu of
the Technical Unit of Governance and Anti-Corruption Reforms, TUGAR said some
of the key benefits of the reform process in the maritime sector, include;
From the Private sector Chief Ernest
Elochukwu of the Port Harcourt Chamber of Commerce and Mr. Ofon Udofia of the
Bayelsa/Rivers State Shippers Group called on the regulators in the ports and
terminal space to simplify the process of complaint resolutions.
They decried the fact that the cost
of doing business at the Eastern ports axis was high and believed with the aid
of the PSSP, the service delivery can be prompt and seamless.
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