A former Minister of Interior and Chairman, Genesis Worldwide Shipping Limited, Capt. Emmanuel Ihenacho has urged the Federal Government to redesign the Lagos Apapa Port road as to ensure easy flow of traffics including truck holding bays.
Ihenacho who stated this in Lagos also tasked the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), to do an aerial survey around Apapa and redesign the entire area to create more stacking areas at the ports.
He explains that the view was to effectively reduce and contain the perennial gridlock on ports access roads.
“In a statement made available to The Tide on Tuesday, the ex minister said NPA should look at those properties along Creek Road that are not in good use; meet their owners and pay them a commensurate compensation to take over those properties.
“NPA should knock the property down and convert them to infrastructure such as stacking areas, holding bays and truck parks.
“If NPA considers this suggestion of taking over some abandoned property around the ports area, I strongly believe that constant gridlock will disappear in Apapa ports,’’
The shipping guru said, that if the Ibom deep sea port is properly funded and administered when it comes fully on stream, it could adequately accommodate goods going to the Eastern parts of the country. Iheanachosaid
He further advised the NPA management to take advantage of infrastructure currently existing in Port-Harcourt and renew berthing facilities, so as to significantly reduce the berthing pressure in Lagos ports, positing that the Lagos ports were presently over-utilised, because the berth spaces were not increasing and the infrastructure were developed more than 40 years ago.
He stressed that if not for Dangote and Flour Mills interventions through the road repair; the ports access roads story would have been more frightening.