… FG orders contractor to complete trailer park
By UCHE USIM
With no end in sight in the traffic horror workers and businessmen in Apapa area of Lagos State experience on a daily basis, a number of them are considering relocating to more accessible locations.
From banks, insurance firms, importers, port operators, government agencies, schools and others, the traffic hell deals a hard blow on their health and businesses daily to make losses run into billions of naira annually. Some licensed Customs agents, freight forwarders and importers, who spoke with Daily Sun, said the development was most unacceptable.
According to a businessman, Mike Onyegbulam, “I spend three hours burning fuel on that hellish Oshodi-Apapa expressway Monday to Friday. I’m an importer of cars. I’m in a fix. Many of my customers have fled because of the hell they face accessing Apapa.
“Conveying the cars to Berger and other sales outlets is also hell. The cars most times get damaged before being displayed for sale. Virtually all access points into Apapa suffer traffic gridlock and craters in the name of potholes,” he lamented. Another operator and President, National Council of Managing Directors of Licensed Customs Agents (NCMDLA), Lucky Amiwero, said it was unfortunate that government has paid lip service in improving the infrastructure in the maritime sector.
Amiwero, who doubles as the CEO of Ehis Resources, said bad roads and poor power supply have become the rule rather than the exception. He said the government has played politics with developing the maritime sector such that smaller African countries have snatched the sea cargo business from Nigeria.
This, he said, robs the nation of billions of naira on a daily basis, calling on the government to redress the ugly situation.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Works, Mr. Mike Onolememen, has directed the contractor handling the rehabilitation of the Apapa-Oshodi Expressway in Lagos to expedite action on the construction of the 450-capacity trailer park along the road to ease traffic flow.
The Minister, who inspected ongoing projects by his ministry in Lagos on Saturday, gave the contractor, Boroni Prono Nigeria Limited, a deadline of 16 weeks to complete the trailer park, which is located opposite the Tin-Can Port Island Complex (TCIPC), Apapa, Lagos.
other smallar african countries hv taken over the maritime industries from nigeria, why wount there? when our myopic leaders knows nothing than waiting for month end in other to share allocation, weras other countries stronger than we exploit all avenues to make sure they raise their living standard. may god deliever this nation.