FG loses N10bn daily to Apapa gridlock —Dangote

 

• Osinbajo says FG will consider all possible solutions

President of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote has said that the Federal Government loses over N10 billion a day to the Apapa Wharf gridlock.

The business mogul disclosed this in Abuja on Tuesday at the end of a government/private sector meeting presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the presidential villa.

The meeting was called to explore ways to resolve the Apapa traffic gridlock.

Dangote also disclosed that reconstruction work will start on the Apapa-Oworonshoki Expressway by next week.

“Apapa-Oworoshoki Way is going to start next week. Everything, including the design, has been handed over. We will start work next week.

“The bidding process is going to go on where four, five contractors will bid. Anybody that wins the contract, we will fund the project under the agreement that we have.”

He said when completed, government will save money rather than the present situation where it loses over N10 billion on daily basis.

Dangote added:  “You have to understand that Apapa and Tin Can Island Ports handle about 80 percent of the cargoes that come into Nigeria.

“As we speak, some of our ships are waiting to come in from Lome and discharge. It is not because we don’t have anywhere to berth the ships but because all our operations are choked up because we have containers, general cargoes that have actually been there and we are not able to remove.

“But I am more worried about the smaller operators because for those that have imported, the charges are accumulating every day. Transport charge has almost doubled.”

He applauded government’s decision to decongest the ports as a right one, hoping that Nigerians will begin to a see a massive change by next week.

Also speaking, Chairman of the Nigerian Ports Authority, Hadiza Usman, said stakeholders agreed that the major challenge around Apapa area is road congestion.

She said:  “We have noted that there is a need to move empty containers out of that location.

“So, we have received clear directives that all empty containers need to be taken to holding bay.

“Shipping companies cannot have ports locations within the ports anymore, so that will free a lot of traffic within the area.

“We have also noted the need for all tank farms owners to comply with the utilisation of holding bays. No more approvals of tank farms will be permitted within the Apapa area any longer.

“There is also full commitment of Dangote to complete the reconstruction of Apapa Wharf Road by June 2018, but palliative works will commence within the  immediate period for Tin Can Island.

“There is decisive efforts by Vice President giving clear directives on the need for us to conclude on reconstruction, the trailer park on Tin Can Island will also be reconstructed within three months, so that we can have access  to holding bays and trailer parks.

“The NPA is also licensing access to the trailer parks and port allocations; we are issuing advertisements seeking for expression of interests of some private sectors to operate some trailer parks and holding bays within the Tin Can Island area.

“We are embarking on that within the shortest period and we appeal to the exporters to work with us in traffic management, we are instituting strong task force that will manage the traffic inflow and outflow within the Apapa and Tin Can Island environ.

“This is an emergency for us and that is why we are here today to address these issues.  We have seen the commitment from the Ministry of Works and the NPA will give support in any way we can.”

Meanwhile, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, (SAN) has assured that the Buhari administration will find all possible solutions to end the gridlock at Apapa area of Lagos State.

Prof. Osinbajo said this on Tuesday at a Government/Private sector meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on how to speedily and comprehensively resolve the issue.

The Vice President further directed that the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing and the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) implement clear objectives to tackle the Apapa traffic gridlock. “We should look at all the components and find a quick solution,” Prof. Osinbajo said.

In his remarks, the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, noted that Nigeria ports had capacity for 34 million metric tonnes of cargoes per annum, but which had been exceeded, as it was now processing about 80 million metric tonnes per annum. He also identified poor traffic management as a major cause of the persistent gridlock along Apapa access roads.

In the same vein, the Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Hadiza Bala Usman, said the NPA will constitute a strong task force to address the issue.

Both Fashola and Usman assured the Vice President that the issues will be tackled in a holistic way, not only to fix the problem, but also to support the Federal Government’s Ease of Doing Business reforms.

Private sector stakeholders, including the President, Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote; Chairman, Honeywell Group, Dr. Oba Otudeko; and the Chairman, BUA Group, Alhaji Abdulsamad Rabiu, were present at the meeting and they all made commitments.

As part of its Corporate Social Responsibility, the Dangote Group will carry out palliative works and reconstruction of some major sections of the Apapa road, which is expected to be completed by June/July 2018. In the same vein, Honeywell Group will construct a trailer park, while BUA Group will carry out construction works on the Tin Can road.

Others actions to be taken by the Ministry of Works and the Nigerian Ports Authority include:

• To reduce congestion and ease traffic; empty containers within the Apapa area to be relocated to holding bays.
• Shipping companies no longer to be allowed to operate holding bays within the Apapa Port location.
• Tanks farms not to be permitted within the Apapa area.
• Process of licencing access to trailer parks and port location by the Nigerian Ports Authority to commence.
• Advertisement seeking for expression of interests from private sector to operate trailer parks and holding bays within the Tin Can Island area to be issued.
• A task force to manage the flow of traffic within the Apapa and Tin Can Island environ to be established.

Also present at the meeting were the Minister of Defence, Mansur Dan-Ali, and representatives of the Inspector-General of Police and the Comptroller-General of Nigeria Customs.