- Collapse of bridge imminent, experts warn
Nigeria has lost N4.57 trillion between January and September 2017 to the frequent gridlock witnessed along the Apapa and Tin Can Port access roads, investigations by The Point have revealed.
The figure, obtained from an impeccable source at the Nigerian Port Authority, reflected an added loss of over N1 trillion from the N3.5 trillion loss the country recorded as at the end of business in 2016.
The categories of stakeholders affected by the menace are: manufacturers, importers, hospitals, commercial banks, oil firms, and the federal and state governments’ organs.
Findings showed that there was mutual distrust between the Federal Government and some operators in the private sector in what would have been a concerted effort at fixing the bad road. The operators, over the years, have been claiming that they are not being encouraged by the government, to make input in the quest to re-construct the road.
There are allegations that the initial change of design by government and failure to stop some operations during road construction, were delay tactics “to ensure that the road is not fixed by the end of December 2017, as promised.”
This is because several attempts made by some stakeholders to fix the roads were reportedly frustrated by the government in what observers described as its failure to understand how the maritime sector worked over the years.
The present porous state of the road is believed to have been fuelled by institutional and operational failures, and legal and administrative challenges, especially among officials of the Ministry of Transport, other public agencies and private terminal operators.
The present porous state of the road is believed to have been fuelled by institutional and operational failures, and legal and administrative challenges, especially among officials of the Ministry of Transport, other public agencies
WE SPEND N5BN EVERY MONTH – OPERATORS
Operators at the port have, however, kicked, claiming the poor state of the road has created holes in their pockets. While the road construction is ongoing, operators at the Lagos port have urged the government to divert some operations to the Onne Port, to fast-track the project and indirectly save them loss of fortunes.
The Coordinator, Save Nigeria Freight Forwarders, Dr. Osita Chukwu, who insisted that operations at the port during construction should be reduced, claimed that huge traffic in the area cost importers over N5bn every month.
According to him, the cost of taking their goods out of the port doubles the cost of importation in most cases, a situation he told The Point has forced some operators to close operation after huge losses. To him, all importers are ready to move their cargoes to other ports, temporarily, as long as government makes that port condusive for business.
He said, “We spend more than six hours going into and out of Apapa every day. Many containers are involved in offshore business; the vessels carrying them cannot berth because the ones that berthed cannot leave. Some containers had been cleared by Customs but are still hanging around because of the traffic. Some containers sit on top of trucks for days in an attempt to get into the port.
“The government can shut down the port, move some out of Lagos, to bonded terminals that are scattered all over the country and having their own excise offices. Let the government close down the port so that the road repairs can be fixed early. If that is not done, the promise of the Minister of Transportation, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, to finish before the end of the year is an illusion.”
Though, other operators agreed that it might not be easy for government to divert cargoes to other ports, they insisted that the Federal Government had the power to restrict access.
The Chairman, International Freight Forwarders Association, Mr. Sunny Nnebe, said that while it might not be in the hands of government to divert cargoes to other ports, the government, however, had the power to close the port and restrict access.
“If the port is closed, we will adjust and wait till the project is completed. Such sacrifice should not be difficult because it is for us to be served better in the near future. Ships can berth in Onne comfortably. The government should close down the (Apapa) port because the work cannot go on smoothly as long as there are tankers and trucks moving up and down in the entire area and disrupting the work,” he said.
According to him, government should relocate all tank farms in Apapa to Kano or Abeokuta, as such a move is expected to reduce the volume of vehicular movement in and out of the area, “since most of the vehicles entering Apapa are tankers going to take delivery of petroleum products.”
HEAVY VEHICLES may CRASH BRIDGE- Experts
However, safety managers and structural engineers have warned that the persisting heavy weight of long vehicles and tankers on the bridges around Apapa and other roads has damaging effects on the infrastructure, which is capable of making them to cave under and collapse.
A structural engineer, Mr. Tunde Agbebaku, told The Point that the backdrop of the recurring gridlock on the Apapa road’s bridge weakened it daily and that it might crash anytime.
“When heavy vehicles are stationed on the bridges for a long time, it weakens the structure and creates bridge-fatigue, damage or even collapse. It is better we avoid such devastating menace now before it is too late, as prevention is better than cure. We must do whatever it requires to preserve these bridges,’’ he said.
Similarly, the Commander, Lagos State Sector, Federal Road Safety Commission, Mr. Hyginus Omeje, said the nation was sitting on a keg of gunpowder because the bridges were weak as tankers, trucks and articulated vehicles were parked on them, owing to traffic
congestion.
“The issue of Apapa traffic congestion is multifaceted; you cannot address the gridlocks in the area without addressing the state of the roads. These gridlocks cannot be controlled without proper road rehabilitation in the area. There is the need to speedily work on the road network there, as well as on the drains,’’ he said.
Meanwhile, the President, Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, has lauded the decision of the Federal Government to reconstruct the failed Apapa Wharf Road as its grim state serves as an embarrassment to the country.
He said, “We can’t just sit and have a road like that, which is the heart of trade in the country. More than 60 per cent of our country’s imports and exports come through the Apapa Port and we leave the road unattended
to.
“That is why we started on our own. Flour Mills said they would join us, but now the government has changed the design because they want all the cables and pipes underground and to have a more robust solution.”
Both Dangote and Flour Mills are pumping in over N2.5billion for the two-kilometre, double-lane road separated by a median; making the roads due for construction, a total of four kilometres.
