Pius Ukeyima Akutah, executive secretary/chief executive officer of the Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC), the country’s port economic regulator, has said that the Council and the Federal Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy were committed to creating an enabling environment for the actualisation and optimal functioning of all Vehicle Transit Area projects across the country.
A vehicle transit area is a public rest area, located off the highway, designed to provide temporary rest location for truck drivers.
Read also: Shippers Council explores ways to ensure freer port access roads
It promotes safety and security of cargoes and haulage vehicles, while on transit, reduce pilferages and theft of cargoes.
Akutah in a keynote address at one-day enlightenment seminar on ‘Vehicle Transit Area (VTA) and Trade facilitation in the South-East corridor,’ held Thursday in Enugu, said that the NSC remain steadfast in its dedication to fastening growth, trade and prosperity across the country.
Represented at the forum, by Ify Okolue, director, Inland Transport Services of NSC, observed that the proposed Obollo-Afor VTA, in Enugu State, is strategically located, not just as a hub for commercial and industrial activities within its vicinity, but also as a catalyst for supporting neighbouring States of Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Imo, as well as to complement Rivers State, thus enhancing the overall maritime infrastructure in the region.
Read also: Nigerian Shippers Council harps on inland dry ports to ease congestion
It is primarily intended for short term break and also long-term parking service, where truck drivers can get fuel, restroom, shower and basic supplies, like oil and haulage vehicle.
The VTA will have a gas station, hotel and motel,
restaurant, mechanic workshop, fire station. Police post and an automated cargo tracking system, Margret Ogbonna, director, South-East Zone of NSC, told BusinessDay in an interview.
She said that the seminar created the required awareness and enlightenment on the project, as well as highlighted its social-economic benefits to stakeholders.
According to her, “The NSC used the clinic to enlighten and educate stakeholders on the concept of the project, highlight to stakeholders, the socio-economic benefits of the project, correct the misconception stakeholders had on the economic viability and functionality of a VTA and spotlighted the compelling need for establishing VTA, following the danger posed, by heavy duty trucks, oil tankers and container haulage vehicles on the highways.
The clinic with theme, ‘Vehicle Transit Area (VTA) and its socio-economic importance to stakeholders’ was attended by stakeholders in the shipping/maritime industry, representatives of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Enugu Chamber of Commerce Industry, Mines and Agriculture (ECCIMA), transport unions and Government agencies, including officials from the Nigerian Export Promotion Council, Standards Organisation of Nigeria and Road Safety Corps.
