APAPA traffic: Ex-Minister Urges Redesign of Ports Road

A former Minister and Chairman, Genesis Worldwide Shipping Ltd and former Minister of the Interior, Capt. Emmanuel Ihenacho on Tuesday, stressed the need to redesign the Lagos Apapa Port Area, and ensure the inclusion of truck holding bays, if the port would function optimally.

Ihenacho, who indicated 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.

Ihenacho highlighted that the view was to effectively reduce and contain the perennial gridlock on ports access roads.

“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, noting 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.

He 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 but for Dangote and Flour Mills interventions through the current road repair; the ports access roads story would have been more frightening.