PREAMBLE: The theme of the breakfast meeting was, “Re-positioning ETO Call-Up System for Optimal Performance”. MARAN organized the breakfast meeting in response to the apparent dissatisfaction and criticisms pervading the Nigerian Ports Authority’s (NPA’s) electronic call-up system for trucks, otherwise known as ETO.
The criticisms against the ETO include that the call-up system has worsened the Apapa roads traffic crisis; has facilitated corruption and extortion; has become a revenue-generating venture, rather than a problem-solving initiative, and as a result, it is a failed project.
In light of these criticisms and the persistent traffic problems on Apapa ports access roads, MARAN rallied all the stakeholders together to unravel the truth, examine the challenges militating against the electronic call-up system, and proffer solutions that will reposition it for optimal performance.
PARTICIPANTS:
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The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), The Nigerian Shippers Council, Importers/Exporters, Freight Forwarders, Customs Agents, Truck Owners/Operators, Journalists and observers.
PAPER PRESENTATIONS: Two papers were presented at the breakfast meeting. Paper 1: “Re-positioning ETO Call-up System for Optimal Performance” presented by Lucky Eyes Amiwero, President, National Council of Managing Directors of Licensed Customs Agents (NCMDLCA), and Paper 2: “NPA’s Electronic Call-Up System (ETO): Prospects, Challenges, and the Way Forward”, presented by Kingsley Anaroke, Publisher, MMS Plus Newspaper.
These papers stimulated heated discussions and debates on the electronic call-up system, after which some salient observations and resolutions were made.
OBSERVATIONS: At the end of the discussions, claims, and counter-claims, the following observations were made: The ETO Call-Up system has not failed, but needs a lot of improvement. The Call-up system has restored sanity on port access roads. The Call-up system has brought about a reduction in the turn-around time of trucks. There are undesirable human interferences in the system.
Automation remains the way forward to solving the Apapa traffic gridlock. Petroleum products tankers contribute significantly to the traffic crisis. Non-state actors, unions, security, and local government agents mount roadblocks that prevent the free and smooth movement of trucks in and out of the ports, thereby sabotaging ETO.
There are uncoordinated terminal requests resulting in terminals requesting trucks beyond their holding capacity, leading to spillover to the roads and traffic gridlocks. Faking and racketeering of MSS stickers and ETO tickets by unscrupulous people bring distortions to the system.
Infrastructure issues such as bad roads hamper the optimal performance of the call-up system. There was no traffic gridlock before the port concession of 2006, as all the port terminals had holding bays/truck parks.
Inadequate truck parks and holding bays contribute to the lingering traffic crisis. There are loopholes in the system being exploited by unscrupulous individuals -such as the use of NPA’s Minimum Safety Standard (MSS) Sticker, and the involvement of manual operations. The large increase in cargo inflow in the last 20 years is a contributory factor to the traffic crisis.
RECOMMENDATIONS/SOLUTIONS: Based on the above observations, and for the optimal performance of the ETO Call-Up System, the participants made the following recommendations: NPA and TTP should improve the ETO software to increase performance and eliminate human operations.
As an electronic platform, ETO should be truly electronic with no room for manual interference. There should be full automation of processes to eliminate human contact. Electronic (E-Tag) should be introduced. Licensed Customs Agents/Freight Forwarders should be incorporated into the call-up system, by linking the Cargo TDO to the system instead of the trucks. Importers, freight forwarders, and licensed customs agents who, by law own the cargo, should be the ones linked to ETO and not transporters who are engaged by them.
Those who are not in charge of the cargo should not have anything to do with the cargo. The container or the cargo number should be on the ETO ticket. The terminal barriers at the port gates should be integrated with ETO to make the barriers reject fake and invalid documents. Fakers and buyers of MSS Sticker and ETO tickets should be identified and prosecuted if they continue with their nefarious activities.
There should be legislation that will take a certain percentage of tonnage off the roads, using water and rail as means of evacuation from the ports. To eliminate the menace of multiple checkpoints by unions, security/traffic operatives, and LGA agents, payments due to them could be factored into ETO from where disbursements would be made to them weekly or monthly, while hoodlums and operators of illegal roadblocks should be arrested and prosecuted.
Truck owners/operators should be made to undergo training that will help them understand modern trends in traffic management, and to operate more efficiently in the digitalized traffic management process. The E-Call System should be extended to KLT1 and KLT2 to ease traffic congestion. An electronic call-up system should be introduced for petroleum product tankers to regulate their movement on the Tin-Can/Mile 2 access road.
The ETO Call-up system should not be used for revenue generation but should focus on solving the Apapa traffic problem. NPA was commended for introducing the ETO Call-up system and urged to see to its further improvement. The participants commended MARAN for the breakfast meeting and enjoined the association to continue to do more for the maritime industry.
Further recommendations:
1. Full automation of processes to eliminate human contact
2. Integrate payment system of levies to ETO account to eliminate multiple checkpoints
3. Arrest and prosecution of operatives or thugs creating checkpoints for levy collection.
