Exporters especially those of perishable agricultural goods have cried out to the Uganda Export Promotions Board (UEPB) to help them sort the poor handling of their goods by NAS Uganda staff formerly ENHAS at Entebbe International Airport.
The exporters at a workshop in Kampala said that NAS Uganda staff poorly handle their goods especially the perishable agricultural goods and by the time they reach their export destinations, they reach while in a very bad inconsumable state.
“Please UEPB, help us and talk to ENHAS staff on the way how they handle our goods. They handle them so badly that by the time they reach the export destinations, they are in a very bad state.
“Our clients end up rejecting these goods hence leading us to incur a lot of loses,” noted an exporter to Turkey.
National Aviation Services Uganda (NASU), also NAS Uganda, (formerly Entebbe Handling Services (ENHAS), is an airport ground handling service company based at Entebbe International Airport in Uganda.
In 2017, ENHAS was acquired by Kuwaiti-based National Aviation Services (NAS). NAS is a large airport services provider, with operations in more than 30 airports across Africa, Asia and the Middle East. NAS also manages 31 airport lounges in 17 countries.
NAS Uganda is the largest ground services provider at Entebbe International Airport where it competes with DAS Handling Limited. At Entebbe, the company services a number of passenger and cargo airlines.
At the same workshop, UEPB said it will re-introduce the issuance of Export Certificates popularly known as letters of no objection to serious exporters who have exhibited a certain level and degree of exportation experience.
UEPB said they had suspended the issuance of export certificates because when they used to issue them, ‘quack exporters’ were attaining these certificates yet they couldn’t export any product.
“We suspended the issuance of Export Certificates because people came claiming to be exporters but couldn’t export a single commodity.
“We are planning to re-introduce issuing these certificates but with a lot of scrutinies,” said a UEPB official.
Elly Twineyo the Uganda Export Promotions Board (UEPB) Executive Director said exports grew by $100 million in 2019 to $3.64 billion. He attributed it to growth in the export of Manufactured and Value-added goods by $1 billion.
BY PAUL TENTENA
Source: busiweek.com
