Dilapidated ports’ access roads responsible for high haulage cost — Oyetola

…Sets up committee to review E-call

By Seun Ibiyemi

The Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, has said that dilapidated access roads leading to the nation’s seaports are making importers and exporters experience high transportation costs, prolonged transit times and heightened risk of accidents.

The Minister, who disclosed this during his visit to the Minister of Works, Engr. David Umahi, on Tuesday, listed 15 roads that require urgent attention.

According to the Minister, dilapidated port roads cumulatively impede national economic growth, discourage foreign investment, and hinder the nation’s international trade competencies.

He stated further that access roads leading to the ports in Nigeria play a pivotal role in the efficiency of the ports and, therefore, appealed to the Minister of Works to assist in undertaking an urgent comprehensive repair and maintenance programme for all dilapidated roads leading to ports in the country.

The roads cut across the Lagos Port complex, Tincan Island Port, Calabar New Port, Delta Port and Onne Port. Some of the access roads are 1.6km dual carriage road within the Lagos Port Complex, 3km Tincan Island access road, 15.3km Eleme Junction-Trailer Park Junction Dual Carriageway at Onne Port and 3.1km FLT-FOT Roundabout Single Carriageway, also at Onne Port.

The Works Minister appreciated Oyetola and commended him for taking the trouble to visit his office with the request. He promised to take the matter up without any further delay as he agreed with Oyetola that the fixing of the listed access roads would increase port efficiency and aid the country’s economic growth.

Meanwhile as part of efforts to reduce the Apapa gridlock and strengthen the E-call up system, Marine and Blue Economy minister, Adegboyega Oyetola has set up a committee to review the E-call up system and come up with measures to ensure the current abuse of the system becomes a thing of the past.

This was disclosed in a statement issued by the minister’s spokesman, Ismail Omipidan, on Wednesday morning, in Abuja.

The committee is to review the Standard Operating Procedures for Truck Traffic Management along the Lagos port corridor.

Omipidan Ismail, who noted that the committee was expected to meet with other critical stakeholders in Lagos on Thursday for the review, quoted the minister as saying “every possible abuse of the system by human should be x-rayed and solutions provided with a view to ensuring that it is abuse-free.”

Although the E-call up system was introduced by the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) in February 2021 for trucks at the Lagos Ports, which truckers are expected to use to book turns to enter the Ports, recent reports have suggested potential compromises in the functionality of this system.

”I have a number of suggestions on how I believe the system can be strengthened. But I want inputs from the stakeholders. This is why I have set up this committee to interface with the service provider and other stakeholders in the industry to come up with a best way of dealing decisively with the saboteurs,” the Minister said.