NAN-HE-4
Fees
By Uche Eletuo
Lagos, June 29, 2017 (NAN) The Chairman, Association of Maritime Truck Owners (AMATO), Chief Remi Ogungbemi, says it is the responsibility of importers to pay Wharf Landing Fees.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Wharf Landing Fees Law, No. 5 of 2009, imposed between N1,000 and N3,000 on cargoes from Lagos ports.
Ogungbemi told NAN on Thursday in Lagos that several years after the fee was introduced, both truckers and Customs agents had yet to accept it.
According to him, it is not the responsibility of truckers to pay the fee but the importers, who are owners of the goods.
He said that how the staff of Wharf Landing Fees Collecting Authority (WLFCA) went about it on the highways, with armed security personnel was barbaric, exploitative and intimidating.
“Many trucks impounded in the course of collecting the fees and released, cost the owners between N100, 000 and N500, 000 as fines.
“We are not against the Wharf Landing Fee but the presence of the officials on the highways contribute to the perennial traffic situation on the two port access roads in Lagos,’’ the AMATO chairman said.
He, therefore, urged officials of the fee collecting agency to adopt a better approach.
Ogungbemi advised the Management of WLFCA to engage the services of terminal operators to collect the fees, “before any cargo leaves the port, instead of obstructing trucks in transit’’.
NAN reports that Section 1, Sub-Section 2 of the law states that, “any person in possession of goods on which Wharf Landing Fee is chargeable, whether as owner, shipper, transporter or agent, shall be liable to pay the amount prescribed ’’. (NAN)
EUC/AJA/PIO
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(Edited by Adeleye Ajayi/Idonije Obakhedo)