The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) Western Port has bemoaned the traffic situation on the ports access roads saying it had affected port operations.
Speaking yesterday at the Lagos Ports Complex before embarking on a tour round the port, the General Manager of NPA Western Ports, Chief Michael Ajayi said the traffic situation had affected the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country.
Ajayi also said that NPA would be meeting with the Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA) on Friday on how to repair the access roads leading to the ports.
Terminal Operators at the LPC also said that the perennial gridlock is adversely affecting their operations.
At the Apapa Bulk Terminal Limited, the Managing Director, Capt. Muhammed Bashir appealed for urgent repairs of the port access roads.
Bashir also frowned at the use of the terminal as thoroughfare by officials of the Nigeria Customs Service.
He said, “Since there was traffic on the roads, we see Customs using this place at as a thoroughfare. Also, instead of maintaining a reasonable speed limit, we see them doing a neck breaking speeding which is not reasonable.”
“The first primary thing is the access road to the port and we know the essence of business is to generate money for business and also for the economy of the country. We know what we are experiencing on this road for the past few years if you have a say please expedite action and rescue our business.
“The roads had been built for a long time when the cargo traffic was not as huge as this so, there is need for the government to expand. There is need for expansion because the gridlock is causing a lot of Havoc,” said Assistant General Manager, ENL Consortium Modupe Markus.
Managing Director of Greenview Development Limited (GDNL), Alhaji Abba Isan Bukar, said, “No port can exist without trucks. We need to create a truck transit park either inside or outside port for the trucks to park and leave the roads.
Fully loaded trucks are seen parking on the roads, NPA should do something. Tin Can is overtaken by trucks and we can all see that the roads are bad that trucks are falling on a daily basis.”
Managing Director of APM Terminals Apapa Limited, Mr. Andrew Dawes told the visiting NPA General Manager that his company has fully developed its terminal to global standards.
“We have spent about $300 million as investment in the terminal. Everyone knew what this terminal was before we took over but now, we have turned it into a world class terminal and the equipment we use is what we use in the United States and other countries,” Mr. Dawes stated.
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