Following series of stories published by The Point on the gridlock on Apapa, Lagos port road, stakeholders have proffered solutions to the menace.
The President, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Dr. Nike Akande, advised that truck barriers should be erected at the entrance and exit of identified inner roads within Apapa.
She said, “For ease of doing business, the Nigeria Customs Service must be operational 24 hours within the port premises, regardless of public holidays. Government agencies were advised to involve stakeholders through Corporate Social Responsibility for collaboration to commence immediate palliative repairs of the access roads, especially that of Coconut and Tin-can port roads.
“The restriction movement of the trucks outside Lagos State should be closely monitored and enforced by the Federal Road Safety Corps, Law Enforcement Committee and other security agencies. Only consolidated shipping companies should be allowed to bring empty containers from the holding bays into the port while the Nigerian Port Authority, and Shippers’ Council being the regulatory bodies are to enforce the use of holding bays as a pre-requisite for shipping companies.”
To ameliorate the perennial traffic congestion within Apapa and environs, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State identified seamless port operations as a condition that would enable permanent resolution of the gridlock.
The governor explained that while the move to repair the major roads in Apapa was laudable, concerted efforts must also be put in place to address the issues that gave rise to the crisis, which were more about port
management.
On the negative effects the chaotic situation in Apapa had on businesses, Ambode said a call-up system for tankers and containerised trucks must be structured to eliminate the present chaos, while issuance of licences for more tank farms in the axis must be put on
hold.
He said, “Beyond the roads, the fundamental issues have more to do about the concession and also the fact that the basic capacities of the Ports are not meeting what is presently going on there. Then, maybe, in the loading bay inside the ports, you only have capacity to accommodate about 50 trucks and then there is no organised exit and entrance
system.
“Someone, who does not have any permit, drives all the way from other states without any focus and then parks on the bridge; he does not even have any business inside the ports. The ports, may be, can only take 50 trucks, and then you have almost like 500 trucks there. So, everything is just totally disorganised and because Lagos is a sub-national, there are limitations of political power play and the conflict of personalities and so those things affect your organisational drive.”
