Subsidy: Maritime workers to shut ports

Workers in the Nigerian maritime industry have said all the seaports in the country will be shut down beginning from Monday in protest against the withdrawal of subsidy on petrol by the Federal Government.
They called on all port operators and those who had business to conduct in the ports to do so before Sunday, stressing that their action was in accordance with the directive by the Nigerian Labour Congress and the Trade Union of Nigeria to commence a nationwide strike to force the government to revert the pump price of fuel to N65 per litre instead of the current N141.
The workers, under the aegis of the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria, in a statement made available to our correspondent on Thursday, stressed that until a counter directive was issued by NLC and TUC, all the nation’s ports would be closed from Monday, warning that labour would not tolerate any sabotage.
According to the President-General, MWUN, Mr. Nted Emmanuel, the planned strike is a call to duty to save the Nigerian masses from untold hardship, which the subsidy removal will bring.
He noted that though the union had no grievance with the terminal operators, it decided to join the struggle against the withdrawal of subsidy in the interest of the masses.
Emmanuel said, “We want to inform operators in the maritime sector and all those who have any business to do in the ports to ensure such business is done from now till Sunday, January 8, 2012.
“From Monday, January 9, the entire ports will be shut down in line with NLC directive over the recent hike in the pump price of petrol. We will not tolerate any act of sabotage from any operator. Unless we get a counter directive from the NLC, the ports will remain shut throughout the duration of the strike. All well meaning Nigerians should join labour to make our leaders do our wish.”
He added, “We are worried that instead of addressing the security challenge that has traumatised and demoralised Nigerians, the government decided to inflict more hardship on the already pauperised citizens.
“We talk of foreign investment, but there will not be foreign investment if government keeps on chasing shadows instead of practically addressing insecurity in the country. We need prayers for our leaders to do the right things and listen to the voice of the people.”
Meanwhile, the Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority, Mr. Sulaiman Omar, has provided a clue on why the nation’s ports have not been attractive to importers.
According to him, the ports are overstretched, as they currently handle about 100 million cargoes a year, which is 150 per cent more than they were designed for.
Omar, who said this in an interview in Lagos on Thursday, noted, “Our ports are designed to handle cargoes of about 40 million. In 2010, we handled 80 million, and last year, 100 million; the ports are overstretched.
“We have exceeded their designed capacity; the port designs then were the old designs of maximum of 13 or 14 metres draught.”
“To measure up and remain relevant, we need to attract bigger cargoes of 10,000 TEU, to draw about 16m or 17m draught. But our ports are not designed for that. So, we need deep ports and that is the only way the shipping cost will be reduced,” the NPA boss added.
Source: punchng