Projected increase in volume of port activities in the near future and the haphazard port management system in the country have been adduced as reasons the horrendous congestion plaguing the approaches to Lagos ports and environs will likely become worse in the years ahead.

According to experts, whatever efforts by the Federal Government, if any, to fix the Apapa and Tin Can port access roads and address the problem of port congestion may endure only for a while after which the menace would return in a more devastating state.

This came to light at the maiden quarterly business roundtable tagged ‘Economic Outlook: Quarterly Verdict’ which was organized in Lagos by MMS Plus Newspapers. The business roundtable with the theme, “Post Election Economy: Exploring Strategies For Growth” strongly recommended that the port corridor must be reserved and restricted as an exclusive economic zone as is the case in advanced ports environments.

Chairman of the Nigerian Ports Consultative Council, (PCC), Otunba Kunle Folarin, who revealed that he has worked on the issue of port corridor for over sixteen years said he made some predictions regarding where the ports access routes would be by this time. He expressed sadness that his predictions have come to pass.

“The port corridor should be a restricted economic zone. It is a place that should be exclusive for port operations only. In Nigeria, we have several residential houses surrounding the ports. Some of them are 10 meters from the port, so it is no longer a port corridor. Another issue is that a port is a transit area, a holding bay but not a storage area. It should be an area where ships discharge cargoes and the cargoes should leave the ports just as the ships also leave the ports. It is a transit area not supposed to hold onto a cargo or ship beyond a certain time” he

Speaking further on the issue, the veteran maritime analyst noted that the mechanism for port operations is multi-modal. He stressed that the transit nature of the ports explain why demurrage is placed on ships and the containers bringing in cargoes and the containers stored in the ports also pay ground rent.

“Until we install a multi-modal concept and infrastructure at the ports, we will continue to have a recurring decimal of congestion at the ports. Within the port environment up to 4km should be only warehouses for cargoes, roads for movement of port cargoes by trucks or railway. There should also be a ring road exclusive for port operations” he said.

According to him, when the Oshodi-Apapa expressway was constructed, it was perceived that the road would only service Tin Can Island Port but it has become a municipal transport area and not just for port traffic.

“In a day, one million vehicles transit around Apapa, Oshodi and Ebute-Metta at the peak time. If the nation continues to prosper and the volume of cargo traffic increases, then Nigeria would discover that it is much difficult to manage prosperity than poverty” he added.

Businessandmaritimewestafrica