Provide alternative cargo evacuation means, NPA charges Dangote, Lekki port

THE Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has written to the promoters of the Lekki deep seaport and Dangote Oil Refinery to look for alternative means of cargo evacuations, aside road transport, in order not to repeat the traffic disaster being experienced in Apapa ports.

Speaking during a media chat recently, the NPA MD, Hadiza Usman, stated that because Lekki is calm now does not mean that in five years time, when the Lekki port and Dangote refinery commence operation, there won’t be environmental and logistics chaos in Lekki.

According to the NPA MD, “Before we took over two years ago, there was no provision for rail connection out of Lekki in the deep seaport plan, which I found quite strange that you can have a deep sea port without the need for rail connection. It will take you two years to build the port but five years to build the rail. So, we have written the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) and the promoters of the deep seaport to ensure that there is a rail connection.

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“The same way we have written the Dangote Refinery to have pipeline evacuation mechanism out of Lekki, so that you don’t have trucks parking and looking for where to pick products from the refinery. There is also a proposed Lekki  By-Pass in addition to the rail connectivity.

“So, one, there must be pipeline for product evacuation; two, there must be rail connection, three, there must be additional means of road transportation and access. So, we need to work to have some sanity in five years time. If we do not deploy what is required now, in five to ten years time, Lekki will be unmanageable. I am a believer of starting something, even if you do not finish it, start it.”

The promoters of the project, Tolaram Group, are targeting about 1.5 million 20ft equivalent units container capacity annually, which is expected to grow to about 2.7million and 4.7million TEUs, when the operations commences..

The project is being primed to be one of the largest deep water ports in sub-Sahara Africa. It is also to serve as the hub of ports operations in the whole of West Africa with the potential to  possibly be the largest in Africa capable of influencing the generation of about 170,000 direct and indirect jobs in the nation.