By Uzor Odigbo
Licensed Customs agents and dockworkers operating at Lilypond Terminal in Ijora area of Lagos have cried out over job loss.
Speaking to newsmen in Lagos, they claimed that refusal by the concessionaire of the terminal to use the place contributed to the lingering Apapa traffic gridlock that has affected more than 300 persons.
Olufemi Olabanji who spoke for the groups said, the terminal has capacity to handle 15,000 containers and ease the perennial traffic in Apapa.
He said hundreds of people employed in the place have gone jobless while some have died due to hardship and inability to afford basic needs of life.
The agents, at a joint meeting involving the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents, National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), Dock workers, under the aegis of Maritime Workers Union, National Council of Managing Directors of Customs Licensed Agents, Lilyoond Chapter, regrets that the concessionaire to the terminal, APMT, has been postponing resumption of activities in the terminal.
At the meeting, members decried the attitude of APMT to their plight, accusing the operator of insincerity.
“On more than two occasions, APMT has failed to meet up with their promises of resuming operations here. We are sick and tired of this, so the only option is to stage a peaceful protest against them,” the members chorused.
However, there was a sharp division as to when the protest should hold. While some favoured end of this month, others craved for the action to be after the general elections. It was however unanimously agreed that whatever action would be taken on this would not be before February 1, 2019.
Olufemi Olabanji, Chamain of ANLCA, said that they will await a communication from APMT by end of January before taking a final decision. He said it is regtetable that over 300 agents and dockworkers have become jobless, while more than 600 containers designated for Lilypond are in Apapa Port, a situation he blamed on the refusal of APMT to release same to Lilypond.