Shippers’ Council set to assist AMATO in securing new found space near Lagos ports
The leadership of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) has assured the Association of Maritime Truck Owners (AMATO) of assistance in their current quest to secure a new massive space for the development of trucking bay near Tincan and Apapa ports.
Executive Secretary and chief executive officer of the federal regulator at ports, Barr Hassan Bello gave the assurance during a Save Our Soul (SOS) visit to the Council in Apapa recently.
Management of AMATO, lead by the president, Chief Remi Ogungbemi during the visit had solicited an assistance from NSC in form of an undisclosed sum as loan to enable them secure a piece of land to serve as a holding bay for truckers working at Tincan Island and Apapa ports.
Explaining the need for the urgent financial assistance, Ogungbemi was quick to recall that all previous efforts made by AMATO in partnership with the NSC in towards securing a holding bay for truckers to solve the perennial traffic in the port access roads had not yielded any positive result.
In his presentation, he said “My group is here again to also let you know that on our own, we have discovered another place, a place that is big enough to accommodate about 1,500 trucks and the place I must say is already laid with asphalt, the place is about few kilometers to the Apapa and Tincan ports.
Though AMATO boss kept the identified site to his chest, citing political reasons, he averred that “The place as I speak, if we meet the conditions within 12 hours or within 24 hours, we can move in and start using the place. But the owners of the property is asking for outright sale and for your information, we have taken the owner of the property to the NPA and negotiation is ongoing with the owners facility and I know that by the time the Nigerian Shippers’ Council steps in, it will fast track and make it possible.
Continuing, he hinted that “The asking price of that place is outside what we can achieve. I am even suggesting, maybe we should put it in writing, with the authorities especially to the Nigerian Shippers’ Council, if through Shippers’ Council or through NPA, the federal government in collaboration with Lagos state government will give us a loan to get the place so that we work out a modality on how the truck owners will start paying back the loan for which the governments will use to acquire the place because this can also be transferred to be paid along with terminal charges which the truckers will be paying daily to park at the terminal”.
Before his conclusion, AMATO saluted the spirited efforts made by Bello in timely intervening during the recent withdrawal of service by the truckers and the freight forwarders which yielded results.
In his response, elated Bello advised the leadership of AMATO to officially write the council on the area of assistance as it relates to the holding bay so that the council can look at it and see how it could assist in realizing their dream.
He told the executives of AMATO to “Please, just bear in mind that you have a partner and an equal party, we are not a headmaster”, and always come to NSC in times of official assistance.
