New Telegraph

FG threatens jetty owners over N426.36bn theft

REGULATION

Regulatory agencies not discharging their duties properly

 

The Presidential Standing Committee on Private Jetties (PSCPJ), a unit in the Federal Ministry of Transportation, has threatened to shut down some jetties following the annual loss of N426.36 billion ($775.2 million) of oil and gas cargo discharged at undesignated terminals.

 

Findings revealed that apart from oil theft, illegal activities have been thriving in some private jetties as regulatory agencies failed to discharge their mandate.

 

The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), National Inland Waterways Authority, (NIWA) and the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) are empowered to license and monitor over 200 private jetties in the country, but currently, illegal operations are thriving at the jetties, thereby making some of them to become haven of illegal bunkering, trafficking in hard drugs, arms and ammunition, smuggling of prohibited and other trade goods and illegal migration.

 

It was gathered from the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA)’s data that out of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), refined petroleum and crude oil handled in Nigerian ports in 2015 totalling 160.5 million tonnes, $4.83 was lost per tonne to undesignated terminals annually. Worried by the illegality, the presidential committee issued a notice, saying that jetties found operating without valid licence after November 2021 would be closed and their operators prosecuted as economic saboteurs.

 

Also, the committee threatened to revoke the operating licences of operators who have refused to comply with statutory regulatory obligations, noting that some jetties were operating without valid license. It added that Illegal activities had been on-going at the jetties on a large scale, while efforts to control them and their operations had yielded no results despite the presence of three regulatory bodies.

 

It was learnt that some of those that have valid licences engaged in activities that are injurious to the economic well-being and security of the country. However, the presidential standing committee claimed that it had been empowered to license and open closed jetties in the country.

 

It said: “For the avoidance of doubt, the powers to grant or renew licences as well as reopen closed jetties, resides in the Presidential Standing Committee on Private Jetties.”

 

Also complaining, NPA had said that operators must come for the renewal of their jetties three months to the expiration of the existing licences, adding that its Standing Committee on Private Jetties would inspect the jetty to confirm compliance to operational guidelines and regulations as one of the prerequisites for renewal.

 

The authority stressed that licence would be issued to the operators for only one year. In March 2021, NPA said that the illegal activities going on at some of the 276 jetties across the country was due to multiple regula  tory authorities involved in licensing and monitoring of the functions of these facilities. According to its Assistant General Manager, Western Operations, Innocent Ganboro, while NPA controls some jetties, NIWA is in charge of some and some are under the control of NIMASA.

 

The assistant general manager said that NPA had been effectively monitoring all the jetties under its supervision, saying that anyone found going contrary to the stipulated rules and regulations would be sanctioned. He noted that the authority had closed down the operations of three jetties and barge operators in Lagos. Meanwhile, NPA has listed procedures to own a jetty by prospective operators in the country, saying that they should apply with relevant documents to NPA for permit to construct jetty.

 

According to the authority, “every application shall be in prescribed forms in the first schedule of the Port Piers Regulation (Forms 1, J2, 3, 4), addressed to the authority accompanied with the under listed documents: six copies of the architectural drawings, structural drawing/ details, structural design calculation, bollards/ dolphins arrangement and load test, material schedule and geotechnical investigation, location of the pier in relation to the immediate surrounding land and building.

 

“Others are evidence of title to land, evidence of payment of prescribed fees, and certificate of business incorporation. It stressed that only Nigerian registered limited liability companies could be granted jetty license. “With foreign shareholders, shareholding ratio of the company should be 60 per cent Nigerian to 40 per cent foreign.

 

“Management may forward the recommendations to the Presidential Standing Committee on Private Jetties for approval to construct.

 

“On receipt of approval from the Presidential Standing Committee on Private Jetties, NPA conveys approval to construct to the operator.” It stressed that on completion, the committee shall inspect the jetty and make recommendations to management for approval after payment of prescribed fees.

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