…As LCCI calls for more reforms, to boost efficiency at Lagos ports***
The Executive Governor of Edo State, Godwin Obaseki on Friday assented to the 2018 budget of N150.09 billion pledging 95 per cent implementation before the end of 2018.
The Edo House of Assembly had on Dec. 21 passed the state’s budget with an increase of about N3.4 billion, sequel to the Governor’s budget proposal presentation on November 29, of N146.6 billion, made up of N66.7 billion recurrent and N79.8 billion capital expenditures to the legislature for consideration.
Assenting to the budget in Benin, the governor described the occasion as ‘historical’, noting that it was the first time in the history of the state a budget was given assent before the beginning of the new fiscal year.
“It shows seriousness of both arms of government and it also demonstrates the level of alignment between the legislative and the executive,” he said.
The governor commended the legislature for fine-tuning the budget, saying that the increment of about N4 billion was realistic going by the current crude oil prices.
“The ratio of capital to expenditure is now better; 2018 will be much better than what we experienced in 2017.
“We will implement the budget to bring succour to the people of the state,” he said.
Earlier, the Speaker of the House of Assembly, Kabiru Adjoto, had said the budget was designed to meet with the prevailing realities as well as for the benefit of the people of the state.
Adjoto said the legislature increased the budget allocation for agriculture and infrastructure to allow for revenue generation for the state.
In the meantime, the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has called on the Federal Government to initiate new reforms to bring about greater efficiency and productivity at the ports.
The LCCI Director-General, Mr Muda Yusuf made the call in the chamber’s 2017 Economic and Business Review document released to newsmen on Friday in Lagos, stressing that port users and operators currently faced major challenges and bottlenecks, due to deplorable state of roads, leading to Apapa and Tin Can Island Ports, as well as resulting from other infrastructure and technology breakdown.
According to him, estimates from LCCI research on Maritime Ports Reform reveals that billions of naira is lost annually due to inefficiencies and shortcomings in the nation’s ports.
He said that to enhance efficiency at the ports, there was a need to adopt and enforce an Integrated Advance Cargo and Customs Clearance System with scanning, and tracking (SST) capabilities.
Yusuf also urged the government to implement the National Trade Data Centre project that would be readily accessible to all agencies, operators and stakeholders at all times to eliminate inherent abuses.
The LCCI boss said that full implementation of a Single Window Platform was a vital reform measure with potential to create immediate positive impact in the ports.
He called for an improved private sector investment toward building and managing ports infrastructures such as roads, rail and truck parks with online call-up systems.
Yusuf urged the government to enforce the Presidential Order that reduced the number of public sector agencies/departments operating at the ports from 14 to six.
The LCCI boss appealed to shipping companies to establish adequate holding bay for empty containers to decongest the ports.
He said that from the Chamber’s research, the port could double its 2016 non-oil volume of 1.1 million 20-foot equivalent unit container transit over the period of 2018 and 2019, if the reform measures were implemented.
Yusuf said that effective implementation of the reforms would create 10,000 new jobs within the port sector and lead to approximately 800,000 additional jobs in other sectors over the same period.