By Uzor Odigbo
Piqued by the traffic situation along the Apapa port corridors, management of Greenview Development Nigeria Limited (GDNL), has expressed worries over the slow pace of ship turnaround time at the facility due to the menacing gridlock.
GDNL also described the lingering traffic situation as the major challenge militating against the growth of manufacturing.
The port concessionaire also tasked the Presidential Task Team and government owned agencies to streamline operations in tackling the traffic situation in Apapa.
The port concessionaire, owners of terminal E, stated that the window of opportunity for manufacturers to clear cargoes out of the facility at the Lagos Ports Complex (LPC), has not yielded the desired results as expected.
Speaking on the sideline of a facility tour visit by delegates from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Managing Director, GDNL, Mr. Akin Omole, told newsmen on Saturday at the terminal, that the facility is designed to handle cargoes basically for manufacturing but added that traffic situation can be described as unpredictable.
Highlighting major challenges faced by the port concessionaire, the Managing Director, lamented that such traffic has also led to demurrage charges paid by the manufacturers in foreign currency, which in turn add to the cost for doing business on Nigeria.
Omole said: “If a vessel with 40,000 metric tonnes of cargo is at berth and the trucks that are suppose to convey such cargoes are not able to access the port; then the vessel will be there longer than necessary.
“And as you know, the longer the vessel stays the more demurrage she incurs. It’s not only containers that pay demurrage, vessels also pay demurrage in huge dollars and it’s a major challenge.
“So I believe that with the intervention of the Presidential Task Team that the federal government instituted with the collaboration with NPA and Shippers’ Council, I believe that with more cohesion and synergy among those agencies, there will be a significant improvement in the truck access in and out of the port.
“The window we are making reference to is that there are different stakeholders in Apapa port; we have the containers ,we have the manufacturers and others.
“The window in preference is one given to manufacturers that is the occupant of this terminal, that the Apapa port terminal E, which manufactures Dangote flour, sugar, salt and of course gypsum.
“So the manufacturers were given a window to bring in our trucks between 12 pm to 3 pm, sometimes everything goes on as planned because we bring in many trucks as we are able to muster , some other times the road gets very chaotic,” he added .
Asked about the state of insecurity about vessels at berth, the MD noted that the NPA is on top of the issue of attack on ships by neighbouring communities