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N120bn lost to fuel strike
N120bn lost to fuel strike
-Chamber
NIGERIA
lost about N120 billion to last week’s three-day nationwide strike over higher
fuel prices. Director-General (DG) of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry
(LCCI), Mr. Adekunle Olumide, said in Lagos that going by the daily national
output of N40 billion, the nation must have lost close to N120 billion within
the strike period.
Speaking to the News Agency of Nigeria
(NAN), Olumide said for the Organised Private Sector (OPS), the loss was through
demurrage charges for the additional days imported goods remained at the ports.
He said this particularly affected
importers of finished goods, raw materials and machinery, who would now be
compelled to pay additional charges as rent on cargoes in the various warehouses
and rent on containers.
Olumide said besides the loss in national
output that would manifest in losses in income, both to individuals and
corporate bodies, some losses were incurred as additional charges as a result of
prolonged period of transactions for investors who had taken loans from the
banks.
He said there were also huge withdrawals
that affected the financial system, which would have to be absorbed by the
private sector.
Olumide identified breach of contractual
agreement as another loss incurred by the private sector, either in respect of
delivery period, payment period and response time, many of which, he said, had
severe penalty clauses.
He said it was regrettable that the
government allowed the strike and failed to engage in meaningful dialogue that
could have prevented it.
The chamber boss specifically urged the
government to fine tune the policy of deregulation of the downstream oil sector
to focus on the repairs of the nation’s refineries.
According to him, the refineries should
not take too long to repair, adding that a refinery could be repaired within six
months.
"In the 1980s, it used to take our local
engineers two weeks to turn around our refineries, so why is it taking so long
to achieve now?" Olumide asked.
He said because of the fluctuating
exchange rate and high cost of fuel in the international market, importers would
want to recoup their profit quickly which would not augur well for the economy.
He also suggested that the windfall from
oil prices in the international market should have been reflected on the local
price, while government should use part of it to provide subsidy or waiver for
the commercial transport sector.
"For instance, government can grant
concession for a certain period on imported commercial vehicles like duty for
three to six months to cushion the adverse effect of the price increase," he
said.
The LCCI boss said it had become
imperative for government to use the increased revenue from oil sale to
rehabilitate the dilapidating infrastructure.
Workers embarked on strike from June 9 to June 11 to
protest the hike in fuel pump price from N41.50 to N49.90. A court ruling,
however, directed the marketers to revert to the old price of the product.
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