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NPA resumes work on Tin Can Island Port access road
By prince Benson Davies
The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA, has resumed work on the Tin Can Island Port access road in Apapa as part of efforts to further build on the gains recorded in the clearance of illegal checkpoints and shanties, which gave rise to gridlocks on Tin Can Island Port corridor.
The Managing Director and CEO of NPA, Mohammed Bello-Koko, while speaking on the sidelines of an unplanned on-the-spot check, stressed that the Authority’s zero tolerance for all forms of impediments to free flow of traffic is no joke, as they are poised to consolidate on the gains we have recorded first in Apapa Port and now Tin Can Island Port.He expressed gratitude to the Minister of Marine & Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, as well as the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, for the tremendous support the Authority has received in this regard.
“Ports’ access roads are international corridors, which means gridlocks along such sensitive road networks, apart from negating port productivity, are an international embarrassment that requires the synergy of all stakeholders to tackle sustainably.
“Although the causes of the gridlocks are rooted in factors external to the NPA, we have a duty as the gateway to the national economy to take the front-line role in tackling this menace,” Bello-Koko noted.
On the issue of refuse dumps blocking the drainages, the NPA boss disclosed that though he has already directed relevant in-house departments to commence desilting of the drainages and clearance of the refuse, the NPA will enlist the cooperation and intensified synergy with Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) and the Federal Ministry of Works, under whose purview waste and road management reside, to put an end to the unruly trend.
It will be recalled that the Mohammed Bello-Koko-led management of NPA recently received the commendation of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders, NAGAFF, for clearing the perennial gridlock that has hitherto made ingress and egress of Lagos Ports of Apapa and Tin Can Island difficult.