By Nasratu Kargbo
The Managing Director of Sierra Leone’s National Shipping Company (SLNSC) Ahmed Saybom Kanu says there is frustration over the non-compliance of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to utilize the services of the institution, noting that MDAs mostly use the services of other companies, than those of the shipping company.
Speaking at the ongoing 2022 financial year budget hearing at the Ministry of Finance in Freetown, Kanu said they have empirical evidence to prove that MDAs have not been cooperating with them in clearing and forwarding and claimed to have data that serves as evidence. “When I say MDAs are not complying, the statistics fall below 60%,” he said.
He went on to note that their services are affordable, and that the prices are divided into three categories, such as humanitarian, government and private- owned goods. Explaining the difference in the prices charged for clearing, he said prices are way lower for humanitarian goods than the other two categories.
In his presentation, the Deputy MD Mustapha Mark Lissa said they have found out that, some MDAs do not do business with them due to conflict of interest, stating that there are “some people in these MDAs who have their own clearing and forwarding agencies set aside, so if these people have the opportunity to be at the helm of affairs within the ministry, then they will just divert the operations of their clearing to these briefcase agencies.”
In addition, he said most of the ministries have their own contractors who normally ask the briefcase agencies to under declare the goods on the bill of lading for them something he said they can’t do.“You can’t do that with us, we are a national shipping company we cannot under declare for you,” he said.
Speaking on savings, Kanu explained that they could hardly save from the services they offer to the government as a result of the late payment. He also explained that when they offer their services, in most cases the government pays six months or a year after. This according to him, is one of the key challenges affecting the operations of the SLNSC.
They therefore appealed to the general public but most especially to MDAs to make use of the SLNSC’s services for an affordable cost, which he said would help them generate revenue for the country.
Copyright © 2021 Politico Online (27/09/21)
