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Calabar residents lament epileptic power supply, scarcity of fuel

Residents of Calabar, the Cross River capital, are lamenting the epileptic power supply and the unavailability of petroleum products in the state in the last few weeks.

Some residents said on Monday, in Calabar, decried the situation, saying that whereas fuel stations were locked and not selling fuel, black marketers were thriving.

Mrs Juliet Uka lamented that power supply in the city had also been very poor adding that to make matters worse, petrol, which Nigerians would have used to help themselves, was unavailable.

“Look at me, I had to leave my house early this morning in search of fuel and I was praying because I was aware that what I had in the car was so small and could be exhausted anywhere leaving me by the roadside.

“The power supply at home has not helped matters; it has been terribly poor, my phones are dead and we cannot power the generating set because there is no fuel, this is terribly frustrating.

A bus driver, Mr Emmanuel Udoh, said many of the passengers accused them of inflating the cost of transportation in the city without just cause, they refuse to see that the price of fuel has risen by more than 100 per cent.

He said he was aware that times were hard for residents in the city but they would not go back to the old transportation fares unless things changed.

“I don’t like the way things are but I am not the cause, we cannot keep on collecting the old transportation fares and go back home with nothing at the end of the day.

“You are not even sure of how much fuel will be sold tomorrow as we have seen a steady rise in the price of the product since this problem started. Today

it is sold for between N340 and N350 per litre for those willing to sell.

“You may come out tomorrow morning and it is N400 per litre, you will have no option other than to buy it that way to do your business, it is clear that no one is regulating anything anymore.

The Manager of one of the selling fuel stations was inaccessible to give insight on why the cost of the product was exorbitant, a male attendant said, dismissively, that they sold based on how they bought the product.

There has been a steady rise in the price of petroleum products in Cross River and poor power supply in the last few months which has affected the price of transportation and other goods and services in the state.

Atimbo area of the city that had six fuel stations, only two of them were dispensing petroleum products as at the time of this report and they were selling for  N330 and N340 per litre respectively.

Nigeria-Ports-Authority-Apapa-Terminal

Calabar Port complex receives 72 vessels within 5 months

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The Calabar Port Manager, Mr Festus Olumati, on Saturday said that the vessel traffic at the port complex between the months of January and May was 72.

Olumati gave the figure during the visit of the Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) Mr Mohammed Bello-Koko, to the Calabar Port.

The port manager said that between January and May 2022, vessel traffic into Calabar Port recorded high returns with huge corresponding increase in the revenue of the authority.

“Within the period under review, the Gross Register Tonnage (GRT) is 1,611,441 and a cargo throughput of 990,154.

“Cargo turn around time is four days per ship, with 16 container 24-foot Equivalent Unit (TEUs) and 15 per cent berth occupancy.

“From January to May 2022, our revenue growth earnings increased as follows: revenue generated in dollars, $6.6 million, while the actual revenue in dollars collected was $5.8 million.

“The revenue generated in naira is N646 million and the revenue collected in naira is N309.2 million,” he said.

Olumati stated that the Calabar Port Complex had been reconnected to the national grid, as the management had resolved the frosty relationship between the NPA, Calabar Port Complex and the Calabar Electricity Distribution Company (CEDC).

He said that despite huge improvements, the Calabar Port was still faced with some growing challenges impeding its attainment of her full capacity as one of the fastest-growing ports in Nigeria.

He listed some of the challenges to include: Low depth of the Calabar Port water channel, which required full dredging, collapsed berth at the shoreline jetty, abandonment of Delta Queen Rig since 2012 and others.

Responding, Bello-Koko said that he would ensure that the berth occupancy, which stood at 15 per cent, be improved.

With regard to the issue of light and encroachment on the port land, he urged the port manager to ensure that whatever had been collected back be put to proper use, to avoid encroachment.

He congratulated the staff for the berthing of a vessel at the port, noting that it was a big feat, and also appreciated them for attaining the ISO certification.

“I hope we get to see that we don’t celebrate this after another year or month. Management will work with you to ensure that it becomes a new normal in the port.

“Dear colleagues, it gives me pleasure to physically engage with you today.

“As you must have noticed from my several correspondence through email, we are committed to openness of communication between management and staff.

“Your opinion and idea matter to us and as such, we will appreciate constructive feedback from you through appropriate channels.

“The task of ensuring that our strategic intent to be the maritime hub for sustainable port services in Africa goes beyond mere rhetorics, it’s a collective one.

“This is why I expect that all hands should be on deck,” he said.

Bello-Koko stated that all hands being on deck would ensure not only to meet, but to also surpass stakeholders’ expectations and add greater value to the national economy.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Calabar Port Complex stands on the threshold of about 45 nautical miles, which is approximately 83 kilometers, comprising the Old Port, the New Port and the Dockyard.

Currently, Calabar Port is operated by three world class Terminal Operators namely: ECM Terminal Ltd, INTELS Nigeria Ltd and Shoreline Logistics Nigeria Ltd.

Calabarfreezone

EXPOUNDING THE DEFINITION OF FREE TRADE ZONE.

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Calabar Free Zone in Calabar, Nigeria

Before we start delving into other areas of
important facts on Free Trade Zone, like linking the Free Trade Zones/ Special
Economic Zones to local industries, and critical analysis of the ecosystem of
the scheme, Let us further expound the definition of Free Zone for the benefit
of other significant publics that may not be well knowledgeable about the
scheme but have part to play in the development and growth of the scheme in
Africa.

FREE ZONES have existed for several centuries. They
were established to encourage centre pot trade, mostly in the form of city wide
zones located on international trade routes. Examples cited by experts include:
Gibraltar (1704), Singapore (1819), Hong Kong (1848), Hamburg (1888), and
Copenhagen (1891).

The World Bank publication on Special Economic Zones
(2008) stated that the modern Free Zones are variants of these traditional,
commercial zones. The principles underlying the basic concept of a Free Zone
include:

·        
Geographically delimited area, usually
physically secured

·        
Single management/administration

·        
Eligibility for benefits based upon
physical location within the Zone

·        
Separate customs area (duty-free
benefits) and streamlined procedures.

The fundamental concept of a Zone is that it is an
alternative policy framework, developed by government, to promote policy
objectives of government. Sometimes this involves a specific geographical
region, often involves specific industry such as banking or insurance, or
companies with some common behavior such as export orientated, high technology
content.

Free Trade Zones are generally established within a
country, although there are few examples of cross border zones, where free
trade areas are established between countries.

The Free Zones of today are quite different from the
Free Zones of the past. Although they serve a largely similar purpose, they
have grown increasingly complex and are thus involved with an increasing volume
and variety of economic transactions. Contrary to the view of the Trade Bureaucrats
and Liberal Trade economists, the liberalization of trade has not eliminated
the need for Free Zones, but rather expanded their roles. As globalization
takes place the formation of Free Zones continues at an increasing rate (Robert
Haywood, 2000). It encourages export manufacturing.

As was stated in our first post and for matter of
emphasis, Free Zones are defined as “outside the customs territory” for the
purposes of the assessment of import duties and taxes. Free Zones typically
allow for duty-and tax-free imports of raw and intermediate materials and, in
many cases capital equipment. This is to lower the cost of production so as to
enable the product compete favourably at the international market.