A chieftain of the National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO), Alhaji Abdullahi Inuwa Mohammed has said that the Tincan Island and the Lillypond truck terminals are capable of arresting the perennial traffic in Apapa if well harnessed and managed.
Mohammed who stated this in an interview with our correspondent in Lagos said this is so even as the ongoing reconstruction of the access roads to the ports would soon be completed.
He however added that if the authorities want to get it right, the federal government through the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) should see that the electronic call up system comes on stream adding that it is only then that the glory of the Nigerian ports would return and the Nigeria’s quest to be the hub of maritime sector in West and Central Africa would be realized.
According to him, “We have some private parks which if well harnessed will play a supportive role to these two government owned truck terminals. I think these private parks, those that are functioning; the authorities should be able to integrate them into those two truck terminals if they want to deploy the electronic call up system. It will be fashioned in such a way that some trucks that are coming to the ports to pick consignments will be waiting at those private parks, from where they will be taken, according to the capacity of parks, to either of the two major truck terminals and subsequently be ushered into the ports.
“What I mean is that you cannot expect a park that is accommodating 50 trucks and the ones that are accommodating 100 and above to supply the same number of trucks to the two government owned truck terminals from where they will have direct access to the port.
“If that will be done, I don’t think there will be need for any single truck to remain on the road from Berger/Otto Wharf to Tincan, that road will be free for other road users. Then Coconut will be a turning point for any truck that has no business to do at the port at that moment and there will be no need for any truck to park on the road as they will now drive straight to Tincan truck terminal.”
Asked to comment on delay by the NPA to deploy electronic call up system as promised one year on, he said, “Going by what we are seeing, you know there are so many challenges; we know it was supposed to be deployed in August last year which did not materialize. However, I will implore the Nigerian ports management to put more effort to see that electronic call up system is actualized because as you can see, the federal government is determined to see that there are more infrastructure at the ports, like the roads and others. I think it is now time for the Nigerian Ports Authority to ensure that the electronic call up system is up and running.
“Even without that, the manual call up system that they have been using at Apapa port, it has reduced the pressure on the road.”
Send your news, press releases/articles to augustinenwadinamuo@yahoo.com. Also, follow us on Twitter @ptreporters and on Facebook on facebook.com/primetimereporters or call the editor on 07030661526, 08053908817.
