The chairman of PrimePort Logistics ,Mr Femi Adewunmi has said that Port Harcourt international airport in Rivers States , has been losing an annual cargo revenue of about N4.7 billion due to underutilization of the airport by freight forwarders.
According to Adewunmi, out of the 25 percent volume of cargos that is suppose to come to Port Harcourt and its immediate environs, out of the current volume entering Nigeria, only 2.5 percent currently comes direct into Port Harcourt airport as the rest is mainly hauled by road to Port Harcourt
According to Adewunmi, out of the 25 percent volume of cargos that is suppose to come to Port Harcourt and its immediate environs, out of the current volume entering Nigeria, only 2.5 percent currently comes direct into Port Harcourt airport as the rest is mainly hauled by road to Port Harcourt
He added that what PrimePort Logistics has set out to do is to help improve freight services and drive cargo volumes into Port Harcourt International Airport as 250million kilogramme of cargos come into Nigeria annually . And the Port Harcourt Airport must use its 25% volume of this 250million kiligramme.
Speaking with aviation reporters in his Port Harcourt Airport cargo section office, Adewunmi said the Port Harcourt Freight market is lucrative and mainly business freight .It is mostly Oil &Gas and some manufacturing. He also said the Port Harcourt market is strategically placed. It has easy access to neighboring markets like Calabar, Onitsha, Owerri, Warri, Bayelsa, Aba, Eket, Oil & Gas free zone, Uyo, Delta etc.
But he contended that the market is currently seriously inefficiently managed despite its advantage over Lagos market. And, according to him, Port Harcourt has “increased clearing and delivery times to Port Harcourt (7-10wkg days) compared to Lagos deliveries. Bad Lagos to Port Harcourt roads and infrastructure resulting to poor quality of trucks . And also the Trucker’s reputation and illiteracy which has resulted in low integrity and trust in the current process of transporting goods from Lagos to Port Harcourt.”
On ways to make Port Harcourt market viable, Adewunmi said agents can “Partner and work with professional well structure organization like PrimePort Logistics who are already changing way the sector operates. We have insisted that cargos for Port Harcourt and environs should come directly to Port Harcourt. 100% of PrimePorts’s cargos are diverted from Lagos or are new traffic”. He also said his company is fixing some of the Port Harcourt issues and making the additional investments to make the place attractive.
“ PrimePort’s success is by continually fixing the highlighted Port Harcourt issues and has also put aside N60m to offset the additional cost of freight. Port Harcourt businesses must assist in the drive –” insist on PH campaign” PrimePort is planning to host a workshop to help initiate this and kick off the campaign”
He also explained that Port Harcourt Airport gets low patronage because most
Lagos based cargo agents prefer doing business in Lagos metropolis and sending their staff to deliver cargos to Port Harcourt. Adewunmi added that the process in Port Harcourt is faulting as the stakeholders compete against each other instead of complementing each other. Immigration, Custom officials, police, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria Security, AVESEC, etc undermine each other and make clearing of goods cumbersome at the airport.
This has led to “Lengthy decision process and bureaucracy at the airport and lack of structure at the cargo section of the airport and professionalism in cargo clearance has made the airport less attractive to freight forwarders”. He said it will be better for Port Harcourt clients to insist that their goods should be routed directly to Port Harcourt Airport as against there been currently routed to Lagos Airport and then been transported to Port Harcourt by road.
According to him Lagos based freight forwarders and agents render “upredictable service and operations especially when it concerns Port Harcourt consignments . They have erratic Service Levels (“good today bad tomorrow”) and they are constantly” firefighting” because of share volume of cargo to Lagos. “.
He added that the “True cost of goods from Lagos to Port Harcourt is very expensive. And since delivery to Port Harcourt has been outsourced, there is no control and ownership of process and there is no guarantee that POD bill will be handle carefully. Added to this is the lean resources available to Lagos agents who already have plenty Lagos cargos to clear and so Port Harcourt cargos are additional burden”.
Port Harcourt end users of these cargos are unknown to Lagos based agents and “ so no customer service. Most agents lack International standard .Most agencies are in ‘business’ to make money and not set organizational standard and their focus is too much focus on local companies . Use of technology and connectivity is strange to them”.
Speaking with aviation reporters in his Port Harcourt Airport cargo section office, Adewunmi said the Port Harcourt Freight market is lucrative and mainly business freight .It is mostly Oil &Gas and some manufacturing. He also said the Port Harcourt market is strategically placed. It has easy access to neighboring markets like Calabar, Onitsha, Owerri, Warri, Bayelsa, Aba, Eket, Oil & Gas free zone, Uyo, Delta etc.
But he contended that the market is currently seriously inefficiently managed despite its advantage over Lagos market. And, according to him, Port Harcourt has “increased clearing and delivery times to Port Harcourt (7-10wkg days) compared to Lagos deliveries. Bad Lagos to Port Harcourt roads and infrastructure resulting to poor quality of trucks . And also the Trucker’s reputation and illiteracy which has resulted in low integrity and trust in the current process of transporting goods from Lagos to Port Harcourt.”
On ways to make Port Harcourt market viable, Adewunmi said agents can “Partner and work with professional well structure organization like PrimePort Logistics who are already changing way the sector operates. We have insisted that cargos for Port Harcourt and environs should come directly to Port Harcourt. 100% of PrimePorts’s cargos are diverted from Lagos or are new traffic”. He also said his company is fixing some of the Port Harcourt issues and making the additional investments to make the place attractive.
“ PrimePort’s success is by continually fixing the highlighted Port Harcourt issues and has also put aside N60m to offset the additional cost of freight. Port Harcourt businesses must assist in the drive –” insist on PH campaign” PrimePort is planning to host a workshop to help initiate this and kick off the campaign”
He also explained that Port Harcourt Airport gets low patronage because most
Lagos based cargo agents prefer doing business in Lagos metropolis and sending their staff to deliver cargos to Port Harcourt. Adewunmi added that the process in Port Harcourt is faulting as the stakeholders compete against each other instead of complementing each other. Immigration, Custom officials, police, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria Security, AVESEC, etc undermine each other and make clearing of goods cumbersome at the airport.
This has led to “Lengthy decision process and bureaucracy at the airport and lack of structure at the cargo section of the airport and professionalism in cargo clearance has made the airport less attractive to freight forwarders”. He said it will be better for Port Harcourt clients to insist that their goods should be routed directly to Port Harcourt Airport as against there been currently routed to Lagos Airport and then been transported to Port Harcourt by road.
According to him Lagos based freight forwarders and agents render “upredictable service and operations especially when it concerns Port Harcourt consignments . They have erratic Service Levels (“good today bad tomorrow”) and they are constantly” firefighting” because of share volume of cargo to Lagos. “.
He added that the “True cost of goods from Lagos to Port Harcourt is very expensive. And since delivery to Port Harcourt has been outsourced, there is no control and ownership of process and there is no guarantee that POD bill will be handle carefully. Added to this is the lean resources available to Lagos agents who already have plenty Lagos cargos to clear and so Port Harcourt cargos are additional burden”.
Port Harcourt end users of these cargos are unknown to Lagos based agents and “ so no customer service. Most agents lack International standard .Most agencies are in ‘business’ to make money and not set organizational standard and their focus is too much focus on local companies . Use of technology and connectivity is strange to them”.
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