Mrs
Margaret Orakwusi, the Chairman, International Maritime Conference and
Exhibition Ltd, has called for the establishment of multimodal
transport system to improve port services.
She told
the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that multimodal transportation system
was necessary to make Nigerian ports a hub in the sub-region.
Orakwusi
said the one-day conference on port concession held on July 30 with a focus on
a review of the port concession agreement, examined
the perennial gridlock on Apapa port access roads.
The
maritime practitioner said that the role of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council as
the economic regulator was well highlighted.
She said
that the conference also looked at the challenges of the concession agreement
with a view to identifying the rights and obligations of every
stakeholder.
“We have
looked at many challenges in the concession agreement and know the overlapping
functions between the lessor and the lessee,” Orakwusi said
“The
whole objective is to see our ports modernised; to see a quick
Turn-Around-Time; and to see our ports growing to become the hub in West
Africa.
“We talked
about the gridlock. If you wake up in the morning and you cannot get to your
office in Apapa, you have lost that day.
“So,
while Apapa cannot grow larger than the space we have existing for now; what
can we do to free Apapa from most of the activities that are responsible
for the gridlock?
“We are
looking at different systems of transportation, because heavy-duty equipment,
heavy-duty goods should not normally be moved on the road. “We should
have a functional rail system,” she said.
The
maritime expert also called for huge investments in water transportation to
establish a robust mass transportation system to free the roads of
pressure.
The
maritime practitioner said if more effective means of transportation were
created, the danger of container-laden trucks falling on people would be a
thing of the past.
Orakwusi
faulted the location of tank farms in Apapa and described this as a danger to
everybody working in the area.
“Apapa
is like a time-bomb, waiting to go off at any time because, how can you site
such ventures near heavily-populated residential and commercial,
areas?.
“In the
same Apapa, you have ports, you have tank farms, you have many commercial
activities going on, you also have schools.
“So, we
need to talk about it. Be bold enough to suggest areas that we as investors can
contribute and other stakeholders. Then, the role the government should
play,” she said.
