The Chairman of the Association of Maritime Truck Owners (AMATO), Chief Remi Ogungbemi has admonished the Western Ports of the Nigerian Ports Authority to reiterate its decision to collect N10,000 annual truck registration fee.
Chief Remi told MMS Plus via a telephone chat that his association would not key into the N10,000 truck registration scheme which he felt was only aimed at impoverishing truck owners.
“I advise strongly that the NPA revisits that N10,000 charge for truck registration. They have not given us the genuine reasons for collecting that money and considering the economic hardship that we are facing, we cannot pay such amount” he said.
While he lauded the NPA’s commitment towards ensuring that only roadworthy trucks do business at the ports, the AMATO boss revealed that the association had decided to withdraw trucks but they were still expecting the General Manager Western Ports of NPA, Chief Michael Ajayi to address the issue soonest.
“We gave a restriction to our members to boycott port business, however, it was just a skeletal withdrawal and the NPA are yet to fully implement the restriction of trucks. We hope that the decision is withdrawn” the AMATO boss remarked.
Meanwhile the General Manager Western Ports of NPA, Chief M. Ajayi has refuted claims that the Authority would cancel the payments for the N10,000 annual truck registration fee.
Chief Ajayi stated emphatically that there is no going back on the payment and implementation exercise. He added that the Authority would publish the names of those who have complied.
He stated that, “there is a list of registered trucks that have complied with the directive, we will publish their names and also advise importers to patronize them. Their numbers will be included so that, anyone who wants to patronize them can have unhindered access”.
