Shippers Council explores ways to ensure freer port access roads

The Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) has solicited the support of the Apapa Local Government Area in ensuring that the access roads to Apapa Port remain free for port users, residents, and other businesses in the port city.

Speaking during the courtesy visit of Emmanuel Jime, executive secretary of NSC commended Apapa Local Government for supporting the work of the Port Standing Task Team (PSTT) and the implementation of the Nigerian Ports Process Manual (NPPM).

“The third leg of the NPPM manual is the clearance of the access roads into the port, it is a key component of the work of the PSTT. This is where we need the buy-in of the Apapa LGA and their support, there is no way we can be effective without you.

“We have developed various tools to ensure the delivery of such a mandate. One of those tools, in the wisdom of the Federal Government, was the establishment and delivery of a port document called the Nigerian Port Process Manual,” he said.

Jime said that cleaning up the environment is a key component of how the Council can deliver on the health concerns of the residents of the community.

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“The Nigerian Shippers Council is in partnership with Apapa Local Government in debris evacuation. We signed off on it two weeks ago, and the director, General Services Department of the Shippers Council has confirmed that it is a major collaboration with the local government,” he said.

Earlier, Idowu Adejumoke Senbanjo, the Local Government Chairman, said that today, workers leave their houses and get to work on time. They also leave the office back home seamlessly due to the free traffic on the outbound lane of the Tin-Can Island Port road.

She however said that much work still needs to be done on the inbound of the Tin-Can Port which has been taken over by trucks and tankers seeking entrance into the port and oil and gas tank farm to lift cargoes.

In terms of debris, she said, 200 trucks of debris were evacuated from the Tin-Can Island Port alone in 2022 during the outbreak of a cholera pandemic.

“Clearing of debris on the roads is a herculean task and the local government cannot do it alone. Other agencies responsible for the cleaning cannot come into Apapa because of the traffic; they have left it, and some of their staff have stopped coming into Apapa because of traffic. The filths are coming from the traders and the truckers,” she said.

The NPPM is a harmonisation of all the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) of all stakeholders in the port industry in order to facilitate the conduct of seamless businesses at ports. The Federal Government selected the NSC as the lead agency for the implementation of the NPPM.

The Council also signed a contract with the Apapa LGA to ensure that drainages and debris are evacuated from Apapa and the port environment.