Is President Olusegun Obasanjo's proposed National Dialogue the way forward for Nigeria?
National Assembly to Review Cabotage Law
By Francis Ugwoke, 12.13.2004
Cabotage shipping law which accords indigenous shipping operators exclusive right to coastal marine services in the country is to be reviewed early next year by the National Assembly. A source close to the House Committee on Marine Transport told THISDAY that this is following criticisms trailing the Coastal Shipping Act since the guidelines were released in June this year. This development was confirmed by the Chairman of the House Committee on Marine Transport, Hon. Emeka Ihedioha who admitted at a public forum in Lagos of receiving "requests" from key maritime sector operators for review of the cabotage law. Our source hinted that members of the Committee are worried about the slow pace of implementation of the cabotage shipping regime. Some of the Committee members, according to our source complained that the guidelines were released without enough notification, adding that up till the time of filing this report, they were yet to receive the copies. Although Ihedioha was non-committal on the details of the requests from maritime industry operators, he gave an indication that the House will review the law to make it more effective. It was gathered that the review will come up in the first quarter of next year when the Committee will call for memoranda from industry operators. Since the cabtoage law became effective, indigenous shipping firms have accused the Transport Ministry and the National Maritime Authority (NMA) of failing to enforce the law as expected. For instance, they argue that there are several foreign firms trading on the nation's waters illegally, adding that under the cabotage law such vessels can only operate in the absence of indigenous capacity and after being granted necessary waivers. However, the Director-General of the NMA, Arc. Ferdinand Agu had on the other hand accused many of the indigenous operators of failing to come forward to register their cabtoage vessels, arguing that this has affected the enforcement of the cabtoage law. According to Agu, "It seems to me a bit unfair that if people have not registered, they have not officially indicated their cabotage status that they should air an opinion on implementation. Because if we don't know which companies are foreign, if we don't know which companies are joint venture, and which ones are fully indigenous owned, we cannot even begin to talk about cabotage law enforcement. It is only when we know the status of the various operators that we can enforce what the law has guarnteed them. We have to know the exact status of these operators... because you may be working on the assumption that somebody is a foreigner - when in fact he is a Nigerian. You may be working on the assumption that a company is a fully Nigerian company, but it is only managing assets of others." The NMA and the National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS) recently organised a two-day seminar on cabtoage implementation in the oil and gas sector. Part of the communique at the end of the forum was to ensure that the Comprehensive National Policy on local content integrates cabotage issues. Among the resolutions is to ensure that all petroleum product imports which are destined for Lagos should form part of the cabotage cargo whenever part of it is to be carried to other places within the country.
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