The Managing Director of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Dr Abubakar Dantsoho, has said the authority is working with the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) to relocate the scanning machine sited on the rail line in Apapa to facilitate seamless evacuation of cargoes from the seaport.
The NPA MD, however, stated that the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, has secured the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approval for the commencement of actual works for the reconstruction of TinCan Island and rehabilitation of challenged aspects of Apapa Port Complexes.
Dantsoho stated this when he paid an unscheduled spot check of critical operational arteries to the Lagos Ports access road on Tuesday.
Speaking during the spot check of critical operational arteries, Dantsoho said such unscheduled visits will be frequent.
According to Dantsoho, the authority will liaise with Nigeria Customs to relocate the scanner site to facilitate seamless evacuation.
“Although I have tasked the Port Managers to urgently resolve the areas of concerns raised by the trucking and freight forwarding community, I will continuously follow up directly to ensure compliance and measurable results.
“Traffic Management efficiency is a deliverable that we take very seriously, which is why beyond optimizing the electronic call-up (eto), we are working assiduously towards multimodal means of evacuation through barges and the rail lines. Specifically, we will work with Nigeria Customs to relocate the scanner sited on the rail line link in Apapa to facilitate seamless evacuation”.
“The Port access road is an international corridor, so we have zero tolerance for traffic clogs that cause congestion. So we are poised to increasingly hold ourselves and everyone to account. First, the automated access gates must work, and we must shorten the SOPs to align with the necessity for quick transaction turnaround to remain competitive first with our peers in the region and internationally”.
On the sidelines of the visit, the NPA Chief Executive was received by Chairman Flour Mills Group, Mr John Coumantaros, and discussions focused on process improvement and increased investment in infrastructure and equipment necessary for Nigerian Ports to garner a greater share of the market.
Coumantaros commended the investor-friendliness of President Bola Tinubu.
Responding, Dantsoho said, “Let me seize this opportunity to commend the Honourable Minister for Marine and Blue Economy Adegboyega Oyetola for securing FEC approval for the commencement of actual works for reconstruction of Tin-Can Island and rehabilitation of challenged aspects of Apapa Port Complexes.”
Dantsoho further opined that “these positive developments coinciding with the Federal Government’s approval of the National Single Window (NSW) project signposts Nigeria’s readiness to berth large cargo carriers commensurate with the size of Nigeria’s population.”
