By Eromosele Abiodun
Members of the Board of Directors of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) have added their voice to the perennial traffic gridlock on the road leading to ports in Apapa and Tin-Can Island, Lagos.
While assuring that the board would continue to identify with all efforts to find lasting solution to the problem, the members stated that they were aware of the problem being experienced by the terminal operators, port users and the general public as a result of the traffic gridlock.
The Chairman of the board, Emmanuel Olajide Adesoye, spoke on behalf of other members of the board, at the end of their tour of the terminals within the western axis, consisting of Lagos Port Complex (LPC) and Tin-can Island Port.
According to him, the NPA board was very much aware of the challenges faced by terminal operators and port users in accessing the ports due to the gridlock and assured that the NPA was assiduously working in synergy with other government agencies such as the Federal Ministry of Power, Work and Housing (FMWH) in cushioning the pressure on the roads leading to the port, with the rejuvenation of rail lines, the call- up system as well as expanding the port access roads.
“The board is conscious that badges are currently being used to transfer cargoes from Tincan and Apapa Ports to Ikorodu and Kirikiri Lighter Terminals. This has drastically reduced the clog on the wheel of progress on the lane to greater service delivery at the Nation’s seaports,” he said.
Adesoye, stated that on completion, the Lekki Deep Sea Port, which is a product of private public partnership (PPP) and great collaboration would help in the efficient movement of cargo and expressed the strong hope that the port would be a reference point within the Gulf of Guinea.
Earlier, the Port Manager Tincan Island Port Complex (TCIP), Emmanuel Akporherhe, while welcoming the board members solicited for the renewal of the infrastructure around the port in other to facilitate greater customer satisfaction, saying that some of the existing infrastructure in the port are over 40 years old.
He disclosed that within the first quarter of 2019 the port berthed a total of 213 ships with a tonnage of 6,778,397 with a Cargo throughput of 4, 790, 282 which was an improvement of 2018.
The Port Manager, LPC Aishat Ibrahim, in her brief to the board members informed them of the activities of the port and the feats it has attained.
