Dangote moves to rehabilitate troubled Apapa-Wharf Road

Respite is underway for Apapa residents, port workers, motorists and commuters to Apapa Wharf,  as AG Dangote commences reconstruction of the Ijora-Wharf Road which is currently in abject disrepair with ditches and craters doting the entire stretch.

The reconstruction work, expected to be completed in eight to 12 months, will start from the foot of the dilapidated Ijora Bridge and terminate right inside the wharf ,where the roads also ends.

When BusinessDay visited the project site Monda y, many construction workers wearing refletive jackets were seen busy with preliminary work— mapping, digging, and demarcating the area to ward-off intruders.

A site supervisor who did  not want to be named, explained to our reporter that they were there for work in earnest.  “There is work here; we are going to do the two sides of the road, but we are starting with the side that takes motorists out of the wharf; we are taking-off with the drainage”, he said.

Continuing, the supervisor also stated that the work to be done would involve excavating the entire asphalt surface of the road, laying the sub-structure properly to ensure that it does not collapse with time and thereafter resurface the road with concrete.

“We are going to reconstruct the road with concrete,  not asphalt,  because concrete  is very strong; already the substructure of the road is weak because of its heavy traffic bearing, especially with the tankers and trailers that are on it every day”, the supervisor said.

He however raised concerns about traffic situation in Apapa, hoping that motorists would co-operate with them as they progress with the work.

The Ijora-Wharf Road remains one of the sore points in the Apapa ports’ bitter narrative, with its unflinching traffic gridlocks that have caused many Apapa residents to relocate and degraded the environment, as well as undermined and killed many businesses and denied the Federal Government billions of naira in annual revenue.

Many Apapa residents say the Dangote concrete paved road model is what the Ijora-Wharf road needs, given its sorry state and heavy load.

Hope for the use od cement on this road was raised by a combined delegation from the Federal Ministry of Works, Power and Housing, as well as the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) which was on inspection tour of a 25km Ibese-Itori concrete paved road in Yewa, Ogun state, constructed by the AG Dangote Construction Nigeria Limited, at the weekend.

It was observed during the tour that concrete roads are more durable than bituminous ones, which is why AG Dangote’s decision to use it on the current project has been commended, especially by port workers and motorists who have been at the receiving end.

“With what we have seen, the concrete road is a viable alternative for Nigeria in terms of quality and durability and against the background of the incessant failure of bituminous roads”, Mike Ajayi,  general manager, Western Ports, who led the delegation to Ibese, said.

CHUKA UROKO