Mass sack looms in Apapa ports over rail project

Following plans by the contractor handling the standard gauge rail project to go ahead with the demolition of some structures inside the ports in order to pave way for the connection of the port to the Lagos-Ibadan rail project, findings have revealed that port workers attached to would-be-demolished facilities, particularly those in bulk cargo terminals, might have their appointment terminated or put on hold.

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According to findings conducted by the Nigerian Tribune, some facilities which include sheds and warehouses that might have to be demolished currently have workers in them. For example, the two storey administrative building earmarked for partial demolition by the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) and located inside one of the affected terminals is currently occupied by port workers.

Speaking to our correspondent during the ministerial inspection of structures earmarked for demolition inside the Apapa ports, some of the bulk cargo workers who were seen working inside these identified structures expressed fears over the safety of their jobs.

According to some of the workers who declined not to have their names in print out of fear of being persecuted, “We don’t know what will happen to us now that the Minister has come here in person to see thing for himself.

“Today, the minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi confirmed that some warehouses and sheds might have to give way, including the one we are in right now. If those structures get demolished, what will happen to some of us? Will we be relocated, or our work suspended, or even terminated?

“The Managing Director of the NPA has assured would-be affected operators of compensation from what they are expected to pay, but nobody has spoken about would-be-affected workers.

“If where we are working is pulled down, where do we work? We obviously don’t expect to be paid for not doing anything. We are bulk cargo workers. We do mostly grains, and don’t work in offices but warehouses and sheds. If these warehouses and sheds get demolished, what will be our faith?”

It would be recalled that the Honourable Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi and the MD, NPA, Hadiza Bala Usman toured some ports terminals in Lagos to identify structures standing in the way of the proposed standard gauge rail project.