Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has blamed the Federal Ministry of Works Power and Housing for its inability to contribute in fixing some parts of the deplorable Apapa port access roads.
Reacting to wide condemnation by some port stakeholders following a recent incident where a 40 footer container fell on three cars in Lagos, General Manager, Corporate Communication of Nigerian Ports Authority, Adams Jato , said NPA had indicated willingness to fix some part of the road leading to the port.
In a social media comment Jato expressed NPA’s concern over the difficulties suffered by port users and the various losses they incurred as a result of the very poor state of the roads leading to and exiting from one of the largest port in West Africa.
“While this incident is regrettable it is on record that the present management of Nigerian Ports Authority, under the leadership of Hadiza Bala Usman, had before now written series of letters to the Federal Ministry of Works, Power and Housing to hand over the port axis of the road to NPA for complete reactivation at NPA cost to no avail .
“It took the personal intervention of the Managing Director to involve Dangote and Flour Mills with NPA counterpart funds to re-construct the wharf road from Leventis to Apapa port.
“The NPA is not unmindful of the havoc and damage this road is causing the port operations and the revenue loss albeit the sufferings to the port users but as stated the Management is handicapped and not that nothing is being done,” he said.
A recent video that went viral showed three imported cars that were crushed by the cargo laden container that would have resulted to loss of lives.
Aside weekly losses in hundreds of millions, the poor state of the road has led to numerous deaths and injuries resulting from accidents that occur daily there