By Sulaiman Jalloh
Deputy Leader of Government Business, Hon. Bashiru Sidikie, has, on Wednesday, 14th August, 2024, at the Parliament Building on Tower Hill in Freetown, warned all shipping lines in the country to stop collecting demurrage charges for a period of ten working days excluding holidays and weekends.
“After today, we will be looking at your finances, manifests and other documents that are against the law. Let it be on record as of today, no shipping line must ask for demurrage for a period not lesser than ten days exclusive of weekends and public holidays,” Hon. Bashiru ruled.
While the Parliamentary Committee on Transport and Aviation were engaging shipping Companies, Hon. Sidikie further ordered all shipping lines to present their manifest from 1st of January to 31st of July, 2024, including statements to Parliament for further scrutiny on or before Wednesday 21st August, 2024, in order to reconcile illegal monies collected for the past eight months citing Section 105 Act No. 6 of the 1991 Constitution. “Assemble your finances, bank statements, we will not tolerate any compromises,” the lawmaker ordered shipping lines in Parliament.
The shipping lines include Maersk, Mediterranean shipping Company, Grimaldi, among others. He added that Parliament only knows and respects individual shipping lines and not associations.
According to the Deputy Leader, shipping lines have been asking for an exorbitant amount of money from citizens, adding that some companies are collecting 20US$ per-twenty feet container instead of the normal price of 15US$ and that they are also collecting 40US$ instead of 30US$ per-forty feet container, adding that others have added about thirty to forty (30-40%) above what is expected to be collected from importers.
On his part, the Committee Chairman, Hon. Ambrose Maada Lebbie, said a copy of the ruling will be available to the Commissioner General of the National Revenue Authority (NRA) and the office of the President.
Reacting to the ruling of the Deputy Leader of Government Business, President of the Association Clearing and Forwarding Agencies Sierra Leone (ACFA-SL), Mohamed Andrew Sallia, said the action of Parliament was a victory for the country while thanking the lawmakers for their swift decision, stressing that all defaulting companies must repay all what they have illegally collected.
