Relief As Joint Operation Diffuses Tin Can Port Access Road Gridlock

Relief As Joint Operation Diffuses Tin Can Port Access Road Gridlock

…stakeholders call for sustained efforts

The perpetual traffic gridlock often experienced along Mile 2 to Tin Can Island Port in Lagos State and has been a bane to commuters, has become a thing of little to no concern, following a joint operation of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and the Lagos State Government embarked upon last week Monday.

The New Experience Newspaper, paid a visit to the Port on Thursday through Friday, and can confirm that motorists can now access the Tin Can Port and Apapa Port axis directly from Oshodi through Mile 2, Tin Can Port, and straight to Apapa.

Our correspondent also noticed that commercial buses can now ply the road and access the port freely, after been unable to do so in ten years.

Recall that last week, the NPA Port Manager, Lagos Port Complex and Chairman Eto Project Implementation Committee, Mr Charles Okaga, disclosed plans by NPA and the Lagos Government to dislodge articulated trucks and all extortion points from the Mile 2/Tin Can Port access road.

He lamented that months after rehabilitation and completion of the road project, port users and motorist could still not access the port directly except they ply one-way.

Okaga noted that there are 20 extortion points along the Mile 2- Tin Can Island Port access where illegal monies are collected from truck drivers before entering into the port.

He decried the activities of non-state actors collecting these illegal monies from truck drivers, noting that it has made the drivers resort to using the Ijora axis to gain access to Tin Can Island Port.

This development, he said has created pressure on the Apapa axis, and the Ijora bridge is now in need of rehabilitation due to pressure.

“We have gone into collaboration with the Lagos State Government, we did some clearance of shanties and areas obstructing port movement last week along the Apapa area to Ijora side, we are embarking on that of Mile 2 area to Tin Can Island Port by this week.

“In the advocacy efforts in encouraging people to comply and conform, the first thing is to provide the right environment for business to thrive. If you cannot drive freely in and out of the ports, businesses cannot thrive.

“The pressure on the Apapa-Ijora axis is as a result of the activities of the non-state actors along the Mile 2- Tin Can axis, there are more than twenty points that trucks and truckers are meant to part with money before getting into the port.

“The preference to avoid these things, both Tin Can bound trucks and Apapa bound trucks are now plying the Ijora corridor in order to reduce cost of access.

“Right now we are having rehabilitation works on the bridge, so the volume of traffic and pressure has increased, and because of this, there is more pains” Okaga outlined.

Speaking at a press conference in Lagos last week, Customs Area Controller, Tin Can Island Port, Comptroller Dera Nnadi commended the Comptroller-General of Customs, Wale Adeniyi, the Director of NPA, Mohammed Bello-Koko and Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu for cleansing the Port’s access road.

Comptroller Nnadi said “The greatest glory goes to the Governor of Lagos State, Babajide SanwoOlu, who gave the political will to ensure the exercise succeeded.

“We had meetings with NPA, exporters, importers, shipping lines and freight forwarders. We thank the media for highlighting the challenges we faced on the port access road. The good thing now is that the road had been cleared and the heaps of refuse removed for us to have sanity around the port corridor.

He revealed that, “since 2017, that corridor was not in use because of the menace of truck drivers leaving their vehicles on the major road. We thank Lagos government, the Customs CG and other security agencies that helped in this exercise.

The Comptroller further noted that opening the corridor will increase cargo throughput, in order to enhance trade facilitation and more revenue collection for government.

Meanwhile, stakeholders have lauded the joint efforts by the NPA and the Lagos State Government over the clearance of the Port’s access road.

This as they called for sustainability of the joint exercise to ensure the traffic problem never returns.

In an interview with newsmen, the Secretary of the Lagos State Truck and Cargo Operators Committee (LASTCOC) Mr Sanni Bala, extended appreciation from LASTCOC to the NPA and Lagos State Government for successfully opening up of the Tincan logistics corridor for free vehicular movement.

According to LASTCOC, “NPA and Lagos Government have successfully broke that jinx that always make opening of Tincan port access road look like an impossible herculean task.

“The opening Tincan Port access road would promote free flow of traffic, seamless evacuation of cargo, promote trade facilitation and ease of doing business.

 

“It is our hope and prayer that the road clearance operation would be a continuous exercise to prevent re-grouping and return of extortion bandits taking advantage of gridlock to extort truckers and burgle containers in transit” Bala stated.