About 7,000 trucks ply the Apapa Wharf Road on a daily basis and only about 2,500 of them have genuine business at the ports, according to the report of a recent survey.
The survey, which was conducted by the Nigerian Shippers’ Council, was aimed at providing a lasting solution to the incessant gridlock along the Apapa Port access road.
While disclosing the details of the survey during a one-day seminar for journalists in Lagos, the Deputy Director, Monitoring, Enforcement and Compliance, NSC, Mr Cajetan Agu, said it was carried out within a period of one year at the end of which the consultants code-named the Apapa access route the ‘Lagos Logistics Ring’.
He stated, “The Lagos Logistic Ring spans from Apapa to Ijora, down to Orile, Mile 2, TinCan Island and back to Apapa. Within this ring, we have two financial seaports; TinCan Island and Apapa ports, about 27 tank farms and other logistics facilities.
“What we learnt from the study is that on a daily basis, up to 7,000 trucks and tankers traverse the logistics ring. But investigation carried out through interaction with terminal operators and tank farm operators revealed that on a daily basis, the number of trucks and tankers handled by the two seaports are less than 2,500.”
He reasoned that if the combined capacity of both seaports was less than 2,500, other trucks were not supposed to be at the Apapa axis, which accounted for the persistent gridlock.
The consultant, who conducted the survey, recommended the establishment of an intelligent traffic management system as a way of addressing the challenge, he added.
Agu said, “He recommended that electronic gates should be installed at the port entrances as well as the tank farms and the logistics passages within the logistic ring.
“He also recommended a truck and tankers’ village so that all the trucks and tankers will be confined to the village, and it is only those trucks and tankers that have business to do with any of the seaports or tank farms that will be allowed access to the logistics ring.”
According to him, the consultant earmarked the sum of $40m to carry out the project, with a projection that it will generate 600 direct employment and 1,000 indirect employment, while the gridlock will disappear in six months.
The Executive Director, Marine and Operations, Nigerian Ports Authority, Dr Sekonte Davies, told our correspondent that the implementation of the recommendations made by the consultant towards ridding the seaport access roads of traffic was ongoing.
