Gboyega Salvador-Adebayo, the Executive Chairman of Lagos State government-owned Wharf Landing Fees Collecting Authority, has called for the cooperation of the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) and other stakeholders in the maritime industry to ensure ease of doing business in the area.
Adebayo mentioned that lack of cooperation had resulted in the massive leakages that made the authority “unable to collect more than 10 percent of what we should collect as revenue.”
Adebayo, who spoke with journalists at the weekend during an award ceremony bestowed on him by a Lagos-based Fabulous Magazine in Lagos, said the landing fees collecting authority, which was set up 10 years ago, was facing some challenges as a result of leakages in their fees collection efforts.
He recounted that “Many clearing agents and other unauthorised people collect fees and fail to remits it to us,” adding, “This could have been averted if some corporate bodies in the area cooperate by coming to our office and collect their tickets there will be no cause for stopping any truck on the road.”
According to him, this made the authority to set up an enforcement unit with police following its men.
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“However, we always have clashes with NPA who chased my men out of Tin Can Island. We are willing to cement our relationship with the NPA even if it means charging us a token for it in order to ensure smooth operation.
“I am hopeful that our challenges with NPA will soon be over as talks are going on, on our behalf at a higher level to resolve the issue.”
He recalled that Babatunde Fashola administration set up the agency 10 years ago to facilitate ease of doing business and averting chaos resulting from multiple taxation.
He further explained: “Prior to the setting up of the agency, each Local Government in the state collects tolls from every truck that passes through its domain.”
On the major focus of the agency, he said, “We are set to maintain the roads and other infrastructural facilities and to make life better for the commuters.”
Adebayo reiterated that the Lagos State Joint Tax Board and Federal Ministry of Finance were responsible for sharing the collected revenue among the 57 local government areas in the state every quarter.
