The Federal Roads Safety Corps (FRSC) and other stakeholders including truck owners, Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA), the army, LASTMA, etc, have assured Apapa residents, business owners, port users and the motoring public that there will be free flow of traffic on all the routes to Apapa as reconstruction work commences on the Apapa Oshodi Expressway.
The assurance was given at an expanded meeting that had all the critical stakeholders in attendance.
The meeting discussed essentially traffic control plan by the contractor, and the cooperation of security agencies and truck owners to ensure that the port city was not shut down as reconstruction work progressed.
Hygenius Omeje, the FRSC Sector Commander in Lagos assured that just like what happened during elections, all the trucks currently parked on roads and bridges would be made to return to their respective parks.
He added that the little hitches that led to the collapse of the manual call up system would be addressed so that trucks that did not have any business at the ports would not be seen in Apapa and environs.
Emmanuel Akporherhe, Port Manager, Tin Can Island Ports, NPA, also assured that they would improve port operations to ensure that there would be no congestion at the ports.
He disclosed that plans were already underway to digitalise and automate the call up system in order to free it from manipulation and compromise.
Truck owners also disclosed the grand plan they had to ensure that the trucks were taken off the expressway to allow for free movement of construction vehicles and materials.
“We have been meeting and will be meeting again tomorrow to ensure that before work starts on the expressway by Monday next week, all trucks must have been taken off the roads and bridges”, assured Olaleye Thompson who represented Amalgamation of Container Truck Owners at the meeting.
The Apapa Oshodi Expressway which is one of the only two major routes to Nigeria’s two busiest seaports– Apapa and Tin Can–has been in deplorable condition in the last decade.
In line with the Executive Order 7 signed into law last year by President Muhammad Buhari, the reconstruction of the expressway was handed over to Dangote Group who will be spending N72 billion on the reconstruction work in lieu of his tax credit to the government.
Dangote has engaged the services of Hi-tech Construction Company to undertake the reconstruction work which is scheduled to be completed in 24 months.
CHUKA UROKO
