By Steve Agbota [email protected]
Apapa port city, the nation’s gateway to economy is now one of torment for residents, workers and business people.
The port city, which has two seaports, namely the Tin Can Island Port, Port Apapa and several tank farms dotting the length and breadth of the town.
From all indications residents of the city are seeking the attention of both the Federal and State governments for infrastructure upgrades.
Following many years of government’s neglect, Apapa has been hit with severe infrastructure challenges ranging from the collapse of its quays, lack of holding bays, bad roads network, rail system and modern technology among others.
But apart from the major port access roads now characterised by gridlock, the interlinked roads within the port environments are now in a terrible state of disrepair.
These roads according to stakeholders are becoming a nightmare crippling business activities with movement of vehicles and loss of manpower hours.
When Daily Sun visited the Apapa port area on Monday, the roads between the GRA, barracks, Koro, airways and Ijora bridge were all flooded shortly after a little downpour that did not last for 20 minutes.
Parts of the environmental problems include blocked drainages, that cause excessive flooding of the whole of Apapa. This is beside absence of gutters in some areas.
Apapa is now faced with so many failed roads, aside from potholes, which make vehicular movements near impossible. These roads should be fixed as soon as possible in order to ensure the free flow of vehicular traffic.
Daily Sun learnt that the Federal Government has been collecting 7 per cent surcharge from every cargo imported into the country as way back as 1978. The money was meant for port development but the money has not been used for that purpose.
Again, Lagos State Government has also been collecting Wharf landing fees for so many years. But the money was not used to develop the port interlinked roads.
Experts who spoke with Daily Sun have however called for the probe of the 7 per cent surcharge that has been collected over the years and not used for the port development.
Speaking with Daily Sun on who should be responsible for the repair of the roads, the founder of the National Council of Managing Director of Licensed Customs Agents (NCMDLCA), Lucky Amiwero, said: “You see the government we have in a situation like this, you cannot ask who is responsible because the Federal Government is the All Progressives Congress (APC) and State is APC.” He said the Lagos State Government is collecting Wharf landing fees from the port, part of which are supposed to have been used to construct most of the roads.
“And we have the port access roads, which are the roads that access to the port, they are all called port access roads whether it is state government or national government roads. And those roads that access the port should be handled by the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA).
“The nation’s port was planned without rail. When the white men built the port, they connected it to rail, but when we are planning our own port, there is no rail. There is no rail connecting to Tin Can Island Port and PTML even in Lekki that is recent development.Those should have been a link up to our cargoes to freight the cargo to the best areas.
“When you look at the link roads, those are the roads you have NPA and the state government working together because the port is the gateway to the nation’s economy that is where export goes out and where import comes in,” he said.
According to him, Nigeria has the national government and state government coming from the same political party, doing nothing and destroying the port to the level it is today, adding that the port is finished.
He added that the nation’s port is not the port that has the concept of a rail center, a preserved port or a transshipment center, those are the kind of port people need all over the world to be able to attract the kind of cargo Nigeria port needs today.
“You are talking about rainfall, if you go round; the port lacks those concepts of consistency, predictability and transparency. A port is known to be consistent, transparent and predictable in anything you’re doing. But Nigeria has a port that is lacking these three core international trade concepts.
“Lagos state government has been collecting wharf-landing fees for so many years. What are they using the fee for? The Federal Government is collecting 7 per cent surcharge for port development. What are they using that money to do? These things must be probed. Over the years, what are they using that money to do?
He lamented that the money that was meant for port development was not used for it and that money was approved in 1978 or thereabout and that money has been collected, saying that money was increased from five per cent to seven per cent charges on every cargo coming into the country.
“I have served in almost 168 committees, nine out of them are presidential and one to reform Customs. The way the port is being run is disturbing. I’m running into the 70s and we know what is going on. After serving in those committees in government, look at the port we are running. A port without infrastructure, a port that has no regulator; a port that has no concept, a port that has no principle and standard. How can you run a port like that?” he lamented.
He said the nation’s port lacks experts to put things in place, saying that the port system has been infused politically and people are doing what they like.
“Where are the experts in the port? The government did not appoint me to those committees because I’m a politician. The government didn’t appoint me because I work in the port, but I was appointed to those committees because I’m an expert in those areas and a trained expert.
“You have a road linking to the port with a gridlock. You find it difficult to move into the port. I cannot say okay, I’m clearing my goods within four days. We have a system that must be overhauled. We are collecting seven per cent surcharge, three per cent is going to NPA, two per cent is going to Nigerian Shippers’ Council,” he said.
He noted that interlink roads are meant to convey consignments to various areas and there is no multimodal concept in the country, adding that people cannot use rail to convey consignments even the barges as Nigeria is not prepared because most of the time, there is a problem where barges are sinking.
“We are supposed to dredge our channels for all those things and put them in a national project so that we can smooth sail to convey consignments. You may not even convey your consignments by road but by sea and rail.
“But the problem is that our conveyance is mono, is all roads, the few ones you convey by sea is port to port not that taking them far to other areas. Our coastal area is one of the best in the world but we are not developing it,” he said.