Destination inspection coys to lay off 950 workers over Customs takeover

As the three destination inspection (DI) service providers wind up operations in Nigerian ports due to Customs’ takeover of their inspection and risk assessment services, over 950 Nigerians employed by DI companies are likely to lose their jobs.

The seven-year contract, which was given to the service providers – Cotecna Destination Inspection Limited (CDIL), Global Scansystems Limited (GSL) and SGS – by Federal Government on Build, Own, Operate and Transfer (BOOT), began in January 2006 and was terminated on December 1 this year.

Within their service period, the DI providers rendered services that ranged from issuing of risk assessment report on advisory basis, valuation and classification of goods, training and capacity building for Customs officers, provision of scanning equipment such as mobile and fixed scanners, scanning services and reporting to coordination with the relevant agencies.

Currently, the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), in line with the Federal Government directive, has assumed full responsibility of operating the scanners and issuing of the Pre-Arrival Assessment Report (PAAR) in place of the Risk Assessment Report (RAR) hitherto issued by CDIL, GSSL and SGS. Customs now handles import and export procedures in the ports.

BusinessDay checks show that Cotecna, which has about 400 skilled staff, is left with no other option than to retrench over 95 percent of its staff. Also, Global Scansystems Limited (GSL), which was incorporated in Nigeria with the main aim of facilitating the Federal Government’s reforms on importation, may end up pushing close to 300 employees into the labour market by the end of the year.

“The staff will have to be trimmed down to only about 20 in order to reduce our overhead cost,” said an insider source, further explaining that the workers knew their employment was based on a seven-year contract the company had with the Federal Government, though the contract had lingered into the eighth year.

Expressing this fear earlier in the year, Fred Udechukwu, managing director/CEO of Global Scansystems Limited, had said that the termination of the DI contract with service providers would lead to massive job loss as over 200 Nigerians employed by his company stood the chance of losing their jobs by end of the year.

“We have told almost all our workers to go home,” said another in SGS. The source, who told our correspondent that almost all the SGS workers were under operations and technical sections of the company, added that even though SGS was a foreign company, majority of its workforce were Nigerians with only about two expatriates.

By: Uzoamaka Anagor