Confusion over which ministry should fix Ports access roads delaying repairs—Amaechi
A clear picture of what has been frustrating the take off of reconstruction works on the failed Apapa ports access road had been made public by the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi.
Speaking as a guest of honour at the ‘Government Meets Business Forum’ of the Institute of Directors (IoD) in Lagos on Wednesday, he revealed that what has been delaying the needed rehabilitation of the Apapa port roads, was the indecisiveness over the ministry that should fix the road.
However, he was quick to disclose that “the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) had been directed to award the contract”.
This is as the Director-General of NIMASA, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, pointed out at the same forum that inconsistent government policy was discouraging investors in the transport sector.
Amaechi, who made plea that he will personally intervene in fast-tracking the emerging rehabilitation of the roads including the exit Ijora highway and the bridges and the Coconut axis including Wharf and Creek roads all in Apapa and the environs, hinted that the government had awarded waterways security contract worth $186m, as part of its efforts to ensure security of lives along Nigeria’s territorial waters.
According to him, “The Federal Government has approved a new security infrastructure for NIMASA to fight criminals on the waterways. It took one year; there was due process and it was finally approved. The process of awarding the contract started around January 2016.”
Business Hilights recalls that major port stakeholders had last week embarked on an indefinite suspension of doing business at the ports after the expiration of 21 days ultimatum given to the government.
The stakeholders, including truck owners/drivers and associations of clearing agents and freight forwarders’ were later addressed by the managing director of NPA, Hadiza Bala Usman who assured that the agency will work on templates that will lead to the reconstruction of the roads.
Maritime analysts had argued that the millions of naira wasted in the hosting of African Administrators of Maritime Agencies (AAMA) by NIMASA would have done about 40 per cent of the roads.
