The Association of Bonded Terminal Operators in Nigeria is seeking a common front of all maritime groups to confront the challenge posed by the continued neglect of the port access roads by the federal government.
The association has started rallying other interest groups with the objective of jointly declaring a state of emergency on the port access roads.
Groups such as the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) as well as truck owner groups like NARTO, AMATO and JCOST to align with the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) in declaring a state of emergency on the port access roads.
Executive Secretary of the association, Mr. Haruna Omolajomo, while reacting to last week’s palliative works put in place by some tank farm owners led by Chief Olorugun Oskar Ibru maintained that the government has failed in its responsibility to provide the necessary infrastructure for port businesses to thrive.
Omolajomo said the level of federal government’s neglect of the roads has got to the point where all hands must be on deck to forcefully draw government’s attention to the lives that are being lost daily and businesses ruined by the failed roads.
According to him, the government should understand that the sector is a key factor to economic growth and must be given the urgent attention needed to encourage and complement the entrepreneurial spirit of the private sector.
Omolajomo stated that only a fraction of the revenue generated daily from the ports is needed to rehabilitate and reconstruct the ports access roads and wondered why government has failed to realise the enormous harm being done to the economy by neglecting the roads.
“Honestly, I am into total support of what the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria did to ensure that the roads are fixed for once,” he said of the strike threat issued recently by the union.
“I am expecting that ANLCA, NAGAFF, bonded terminal operators and others to declare a state of emergency on the ports access roads because it appears government is not worried or bothered about what we are facing going to Apapa to earn a living.
“If the various groups in the sector can withdraw their services for just two days I believe that the government will understand the importance of the stakeholders and their roles in maritime operations,” he said.
The bonded terminal operators scribe however lauded effort of the tank farm owners over the ongoing palliative works on the Sunrise to Coconut axis of the Apapa-Oshodi expressway in Lagos.
