The Director General of Nsukka Chamber of Commerce Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NCCIMA), Dr. Daniel Ochi, has appealed to the Federal Ministry of Aviation to install without delay an Explosives Dictating Machine (EDM) at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu to engender export of local products through the airport.
Ochi who made the appeal on Tuesday in an interview with some journalists in Enugu, disclosed that his chamber had an order to supply 100 tonnes of ‘yellow habanero’ otherwise known as Nsukka yellow pepper and ‘ocimum gratissimum’ popularly known as scent leaf to the United States of America every month for five years, but regretted that they can’t exports through the airport without the EDM in the airport.
He explained that condition precedent required by their off takers and buyers before the products could be exported to US or European Countries the products must be subjected to EDM.
According Ochi, “Nsukka Chamber of Commerce is promoting exports of made in Nigeria product. As we speak we have order to supply 100 tones of Nsukka Yellow pepper, ‘yellow habanero’ to United States of America on a monthly bases for the next five years.
“We also have an order to supply centlelf (nchanwu). Our off takers and buyers they require that before these products are accepted in any of the EU countries we make sure we subject the package to an explosives dictating machine (EDM). Our plan is to export from Enugu Airport, you know the Enugu airport doesn’t have that machine, is only available in Lagos and Abuja.
“If we move our consignment from Enugu to Lagos it will add on the cost of that product; by the time our product arrives U.S. we might not be able to compete favourably because of our price so we are losing. So that is why we make that plea to the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment to help us talk to Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).
“We have made inquiry on our own we discovered that this machine is just N47 million. We are also talking with the Enugu state government to help us talk to the Federal Ministry of Aviation especially FAAN that manages the airport to buy this machine at least one and install in Enugu airport.
“They say Enugu Airport is an international airport, it is also a Cargo Airport let have that machine so that those of us who are interested in kin in into the diversification policy of the Federal government in exporting made in Nigeria product we can export from Enugu instead of taken it to Lagos,” he stated.
