MSC, Jakys Partner to ease port traffic gridlock

Peter Olaniyi |

The Managing Director and Chief Executive of Jakys Nigeria, Sir Henry Muogho, has said the recent partnership with Mediterranean Shipping Company will help decongest the traffic gridlock at the Apapa port.

Conducting officials of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) on an inspection of the facility in Lagos last week,after MSC and its logistics arm; Medlog, secured a five years lease at Jakys terminal to offload containers from Apapa.

Muogho said the 23,000 square meters of the terminal is already being utilised by barges, transferring loaded containers and taking off empty containers.

He however revealed that the terminal was leased to Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC Shipping).

According to him, the terminal is a thoroughput terminal dedicated for only MSC containers, adding that no third party containers are allowed to come into the terminal.

Speaking, he said “Here is going to be like a throughput jetty, no third party containers are allowed to come in here, as you can see, it is only MSC containers that we have here, this means there is also a call up system for trucks to come in here”

“We have an MoU with the community that made us to build the roads, this was part of the lease agreement with MSC and Medlog”

“Trucks that are coming here would not be parking on the road, therefore, the nuisance value that we have at other ports and terminals, I dont want to import them here”

He informed that already, the terminal is 90% completed, and has commenced test running about eight months ago.

He stated that it has gradually started taking away the pressure from the ever busy Lagos port roads and bridges

The Jakys Chief Executive Officer explained that the condition for liaising with Medlog and MSC Shipping was that first, they must have a truck park, and they already have it for all their trucks coming to pick cargoes at the terminal.

According to him “You cannot see any truck parked on the roads. And in the case of a truck breaking down, two hours were given to them to move the truck.

He described the project as a triple plan with holding bays and truck parks being within same vicinity.

He further said that there is a call-up system from the truck park around Trade Fair Complex along Badagry expressway to the bonded warehouse. There is also a call-up system between the jetty and the bonded warehouse.

“When the terminal becomes fully operational, the traffic volume on our roads would be reduced by not less than 50 per cent”

” Using the bridges as holding bay would no longer be happening as there would be no need for that any longer”

“On the other hand, when other companies do same thing, the gridlock would be totally eliminated, bridges saved, money spent by government for road maintenance would reduce, and the suffering Nigerians are subjected to on a daily basis would be eliminated completely”

Also speaking with our correspondent, the contractor in charge of the project, Messers Jasper Structure Integrated Services Limited said construction works have been ongoing for the past eighteen months.

Chief executive officer of the company, Mr Jasper Akhigbe said the project was 90% completed and that Nigerian Ports Authority officials have been coming around to inspect.

“We gave the terminal owners a timeline of three months to ensure completion, but when we came in, the scope of work expanded.

By now we ought to have gotten it done, but for some unforseen challenges”

“We have been on ground now for the past eighteen months.

“What we have on ground now, I think we are about 90 percent completed” he said.