Labour crises: Dock workers want FG to wade into face-off between NPA, Bua Ports Ltd

Admin l Tuesday, September 17, 2019

PORT HARCOURT, Rivers, Nigeria – A Trustee of the Dockworkers branch of the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria, Comrade Waite Harry has called on the Federal Government to wade into the crises rocking the industrial relations between the Nigeria Ports Authority and the Bua Ports and Terminals Ltd.

Harry while addressing dockworkers in a peaceful protest on Tuesday in Port Harcourt said that the reason behind the protest by the workers was because vessels had stopped berthing at Bua Ports and Terminals for workers to work.

He stated that for about two months his workers had been sent out of job as a result of the issue between NPA and Bua Ports and Terminals Ltd. Harry made the call as official intervention to reconcile the duo had proved abortive.

‘’ All efforts to know or understand what is happening between NPA and BUA Ports and Terminal proved abortive, nobody called our headquarters to tell them what is happening”, the national Trustee of Dockworkers branch stressed, adding , ‘ on our own we have tried to get to the root of the matter between them, but we cannot get any result,’’ Harry stated.

The dock workers boss stressed that the workers had to resort to the peaceful protest since they could not get result from the intervention of their officials in the matter, adding that the protest was geared towards letting the world know the issues on the ground.

‘’ The officials have intervened in the case, we intervened and discovered that the problem is between NPA and Bua Ports and Terminals, we gave them time to resolve but they refused to settle,’’ Waite said. What we are saying is that whatever issue they have should not affect workers, vessels should berth for workers to work because they are family members,’’ he stressed.

Also speaking the District Chairman, Port Harcourt Ports Dock workers branch, Comrade Tony Nwokocha said there were many vessels far way buoy ready to berth at Bua Ports and Terminals but because of the issue they could not come.

He called on both parties to resolve their differences but should allow vessels to berth for workers to work to get money to feed their families. Nwokocha noted that the face-off between NPA and Bua Ports had caused an untold hardship on dock workers, saying that the problem was not caused by the workers.

‘’ Schools have resumed, parents will buy books, pay school fees, make new uniforms and take general care of their families, where will they get money to do all these, ‘’ he asked.

He called on the federal government to resolve the issue between Bua Ports and Terminals and NPA. The District Chairman noted that dock workers were casual workers, adding that they earn on a daily basis. Some of the placards carried by the protesting workers read; we are Nigerians, don’t frustrate Nigerian businessmen; we are dock workers and we want to work; injury to one is injury to all; Bua Terminal is our source of livelihood; we don’t have any business other than ship work”, among others.

In his response the Ports Manager, Rivers Ports, Engr.Yunusa Anji said that the protest by the workers was baseless.He noted that all the claims by the protesters was false, adding that there was no need for that protest.

Engr. Anji stressd that the management of Bua Ports and Terminals had written to the management of the Nigeria Ports Authority on the deplorable state of berths 5, 6 and 7.

The Ports Manager, Rivers Ports stated that the Bua management sought to refurbish the berths to ensure safety at the berths. He stressed that NPA had to close down berths 5, 6 and 7 in a bid to save the nation’s image and to avert accident involving vessels that would berth.

The Port Harcourt Ports’ boss  noted that this informed the closure of the berths at Bua Ports and Terminals. He stressed that officials of the Dock workers had visited him on the issue and he had made these issues clear to them. He said the leadership ought to have properly informed their members instead of taking to protest.

The Manager blamed Bua  for not keeping to concessioning agreement, noting that it was unsafe for vessels to berth at Bua Ports until the situation improved.

‘’ This decision is taken to sustain the Nation’s image and to avert accident at the berths, the decision is even in their own interest, ‘’ he added. He said NPA never caused any problem for dock workers, while advising them to try and understand the true position and stop blaming NPA for their problem.

Engr. Anji said that out of the four berths at Bua Ports, berth  8 had totally collapsed. ‘’Bua later wrote to NPA headquarters that berths 5, 6 and 7 are no longer safe for operations, after Bua wrote about unsafe berths 5, 6 and 7, the management has to close down the berths. Bua should have done the necessary thing to avoid such protest,’’  Anji noted.