Dangote Refinery will reduce NIMASA’s revenue drastically–Jamoh
Maureen Aguta
The Director General of Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Bashir Jamoh, says the coming on stream of the Dangote Refinery would lead to a drop in the agency’s revenue because ships importing petroleum products would reduce drastically thus reducing the 3 per cent freight levy collected by NIMASA.
Speaking during a courtesy visit by a delegation from Dangote Port operations, led by the Managing Director Dangote Port Operations, Mr. Akin Omole to NIMASA, Jamoh said that agency is however, committed to ensuring that the business of the Dangote Ports and refinery are not hindered by the implementation of the regulatory instrument under the provisions of the Cabotage Act.
He stated that the agency will work with Dangote Ports to also ensure the Group does not breach any regulation of the Federal Government as regards wet cargo afreightment.
Jamoh and the visting Dangote team agreed to set up a working committee to address the operational concerns at the refinery within 14 days.
“I suggested a joint committee with membership from NIMASA and Dangote to sit down and look at issues objectively. Our priority is to ensure regulatory implementation does not impede the operations of Dangote Ports and by extension, Dangote Refinery. Though the coming on stream of the Dangote Refinery would lead to a drop in NIMASA revenue, because ships importing petroleum products would reduce drastically thus reducing the 3 per cent freight levy collected by the Agency. However, Nigerian economic growth and long term benefit to the Nigerian masses is far better than immediate revenue for NIMASA,” Jamoh said.
On his part, the Managing Director Dangote Ports Operations, Mr. Akin Omole, said his team will ensure that the refinery is not in breach of the Cabotage Act.
He said, “We talked about business being done in a way that there is no obstruction, no delay. “In shipping, a day’s delay is a huge cost; we have an average of over $50,000 demurrage on a ship per day, so we want to be sure that these kinds of delay are not experienced. All bottlenecks, hindrances that will cause the delay will be addressed jointly and collaboratively with our team and NIMASA team,” he said.