The Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Hadiza Bala Usman has said that the truck queue and traffic congestion in Apapa would not reduce unless there is a concerted effort by concerned authorities to provide trailer parks.
This was contained in a statement made available to The Tide by NPA last Wdnesday as Usman expressed displeasure over the delay in the commissioning of the Tin Can Island trailer park ten years after the Federal Ministry of Works, Power and Housing took over the project.
“I want to use this opportunity to call on the Federal Ministry of Works, Power and Housing to conclude the trailer park inside Tin Can Island. There is a trailer park there that the Ministry of Works has been constructing for the past ten years.
“I have held discussions with the Ministry since I assumed office two and half years ago and made a request that they should hand over that trailer park to the Nigerian Ports Authority so that we can conclude the shore protection and have it ready since December 2017 yet we are still here, it has not been finished, it has not been handed over. The traffic situation in Apapa will not reduce unless there is a concerted effort in providing trailer parks,” Usman said.
Hadiza Usman said the construction of more truck parks outside the port environment would go a long way in decongesting the Lagos ports access roads.
“The gridlock in Apapa has been lingering for too long. The Nigerian port in the last three weeks withdrew the lease for Lilypond as a terminal and converted it into a trailer park. I would also call on the Lagos and Ogun State governments to look at land allocations and cancel them for overriding public interest and make them trailer parks outside of the port environment where those trailers can sit.
“We must have trailer parks and holding bays for trucks to enable us manage the traffic. We can’t have a situation where all trailers do not have designated parks.
“You must have as a state and local government, designated locations for trailers to park. NPA intends to now have call-up systems that will be deployed in these trailer parks.
“Lilypond is a transit park into the port but we need to have a large size trailer park that will house the trailers on the roads. It is a big challenge that we have and we will continue to see what we can do to decongest the bridges to ensure seamless inflow and outflow,” she stated.
The Managing Director also lamented the absence of functional scanners and single window platform in cargo clearance at the port, adding that the physical examination of cargo at the port hampers efficient cargo delivery.