The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) is set to prioritise the movement of cargo into and from the ports by rail to maximise Nigeria’s inter-modal transport potentials and reduce pressure on the nation’s roads.
Hadiza Bala Usman, the NPA Managing Director, disclosed this while on tour of some terminals and facilities within the Apapa Port Complex in Lagos.
She said that the NPA would work to increase stakeholders confidence in the ability of the rail line linking the port to seamlessly transport their cargoes.
She revealed that the NPA has opened talks with Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) on the need to revitalise the rail tracks leading in and out of the port for easy movement of imported cargoes and access of agricultural produce being exported out of the country, while also working for modern and increased number of wagons through the NRC.
Bala Usman who lauded the initial move to test-run cargo movement from Lagos to the Northern part of the country also said that the NPA would reachout to Federal Ministry of Agriculture and other stakeholders in the export chain on the need to know and adhere to Standard Operating Procedure within the Nigerian port environment.
Mark Walsh, an Executive Director with ENL Consortium, one of the concessionaires whose terminal rail track runs through, explained to Usman that there was a successful test-run of cargo movement from the port by rail to the north but was slowed down when owners of consignments complained of delays.
Walsh said that prospective users of the rail facilities in the port needed to be reassured of its seamless feature, cost and time saving advantages.
Bala Usman who was accompanied by other Executive Directors and top management staff of NPA including the General Manager Western Ports, Michael Ajayi, also visited the recently repaired portions of the Apapa Ijora link bridge to have a first hand view of progress achieved.