The Apapa and Tin-Can Customs commands, the stakeholders said, generate over N2billion daily from the ports. The N100billion required to fix the roads, the stakeholders argued, can be generated by Customs and other government agencies within two months.
Some importers and port users at the weekend urged the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration to support the current management of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) in finding a permanent solution to the gridlock on Apapa/Tin Can Island roads and reduce hardships on the users.
The stakeholders said there was an urgent need for the Federal Government to fix the Tin Can Island Road as NPA, Dangote Group and Flour Mills Plc embark on reconstructing the entire Wharf Road.
“The problem from the port was that vehicles that used to park inside the port have been driven out by the concessionaires and they have no option than to park on the road in order to gain access into the port,” an importer, Olabisi Adeleke stated.
Mr Sunday Collins, a banker in Apapa, also urged government to urgently repair the road. In his words, “Everyday, we spend several hours on this road before we get to our offices and when we do get to our offices, we are already exhausted; we are really suffering. It is always difficult for commuters to access Tin-Can due to the bad nature of the road.”
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