The Managing Director /CEO of the Nigerian Ports Authority NPA, Mohammed Bello-Koko during the week resumed work on the Tin Can Island Port access road in Apapa.
This is in line with measures adopted to consolidate the gains recorded in the clearance of illegal check/extortion points and shanties, which gave rise to gridlocks on Tin Can Island Port corridor.
Speaking on the sidelines of an unscheduled spot check, Monday, Bello- Koko said, “Our zero tolerance for all forms of impediments to free flow of traffic is no fluke, and we are poised to consolidate on the gains we have recorded first in Apapa Port, and now Tin Can Island Port.
“We are grateful to the Honourable Minister of Marine & Blue Economy, His Excellency Adegboyega Oyetola CON and the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu for the tremendous support we have received in this regard.”
Bello Koko noted further that, “Ports’ access roads are international corridors, which means gridlocks along such sensitive road networks, apart from negating port productivity, is an international embarrassment that requires the synergy of all stakeholders to tackle sustainably.
“Although the causes of the gridlocks are rooted in factors external to NPA, we have a duty as the gateway to the national economy to take the front line role in tackling this menace.”
On the menace of refuse dumps blocking the drainages, Bello Koko disclosed that though he has already directed relevant in-house departments to commence desilting of the drainages and clearance of the refuse, NPA will enlist the cooperation and intensified synergy with Lagos State Waste Management Authority LAWMA and the Federal Ministry of Works under whose purview waste and road management resides to arrest the ugly trend.
Recall that the Mohammed Bello-Koko-led management of NPA had recently received the commendation of National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders NAGAFF for clearing the perennial gridlock that hitherto made ingress and egress of Lagos Ports of Apapa and Tin Can Island difficult.