Bassey Inyang in Calabar
The EcoMarine (ECM) Terminals Limited has been awarded the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) 9001:2008 Quality Management System certificate for compliance with international best practices.
Managing Director ISOQAR Africa (Pty) Limited, Mr Roelof Mouton, who presented the certificate to the company in Calabar on Friday commended ECM for the success they recorded, saying it was a result of hard work and dedication to achieving the result.
“This certification is the starting point for you and it is all about continuous improvement. We would be coming back on our surveillance visits through the next few years,” Mouton said.
Vice Chairman of ECM Terminals, Mr. Mahmoud Tukur, promised that the company would not rest on its oars as it would not relent offering its clients quality services.
Tukur, who was represented by the Group General Manager, Mr Dayo Balogun, said, “We would not rest on our oars, but continuously pursue excellence. By the time you come for the next audit, you would meet us in a much better condition.
“We are going to be worthy ambassadors and also a reference point. We would continue to challenge ourselves in improving our processes. We are also open to criticism.”
He also appealed to relevant authorizes to ensure the dredging of the Calabar Channel to make it a destination for port users.
In his remarks, the General Manager, ECM Terminals, Engineer Kingsley Iheanacho, said ECM Terminals is one of the first companies in Nigeria to be ISO 9001:2008 certified.
“We consider this achievement quite strategic and we thought we should let our stakeholders know that this great milestone has been achieved. The essence of this certification is not just conformity as some companies do, but also a transformation of internal processes. It was actualized with a hardworking team of ECM in Lagos and Calabar. It was a team effort,” Iheanacho said.
Representative of the Managing Director of Cristal Services Limited, Mr. Echezona Ibe, who served as consultants to the project, commended ECM for working hard to get the certification in a short period of 10 months.
“We encourage you to keep it up. Now you have achieved certification, it is now the work has started. You have met the 136 standards, but you have to show continuous improvement and show evidence such. Quality is not a destination, and you must keep moving. It is a lot of work. If you do not improve on the system, it will slack. You are establishing a quality culture and build on it and take it where you go. Quality is a journey and the man who says he has arrived has actually started to fail,” he said.
ECM Terminals, which holds the concession for the Terminal B of the Calabar Port and commenced operations in August 2007.
