Whereas Messers AG Dangote Construction Company handling the rehabilitation of the Apapa/Ijora roads in Lagos is reportedly facing challenges in relocating gas pipelines and underground electric cables in the area to enable the work progress smoothly, there seems to be no plan insight for the worst Tincan Port end of the Apapa-Oshodi Expressway.
Business Hilights can authoritatively report that repair attention is visible on Wharf Road onto Ijora while nothing is happening on Tincan Port axis.
Maritime stakeholders who spoke to our correspondent on Sunday at Tincan said average six out of 10 cleared containers fall off the road within the first 700m away from Tincan Island Port due to bad road.
Besides, nothing is going on the Trucking Bay construction which had been stalled since the beginning of this government in front of Tincan Island Ports.
However, in a statement recently, the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola decried that his worst disturbance remains the embarrassing state of port access roads in Lagos.
A tour of the road on Sunday showed the height of bad road ever in Nigeria even though the road leads to Tincan Island Port, numerous tank farms and Apapa central business district.
Users of the road who spoke to our correspondent decried the abandonment of the road and fumed on why attention is only given to Wharf road.
Currently, there is no access to Tincan Port Road from Mile 2 interchange. Apart from the excesses of articulated vehicles, the state of disrepairs is unprecedented.
Giving insights on why delays are observed on the Wharf Road during a media parley with select editors in Apapa on Tuesday last week, the Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Ms. Hadiza Usman explained that whereas the ongoing relocation of the gas pipelines and other cables came with additional costs, it was not factored into the initial budget.
Business Hilights recalls that the rehabilitation of the two-kilometre wharf-Apapa road which started in July is being handled by the NPA in collaboration with the Dangote Group and Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc.
The project which was originally estimated to cost N4.5bn, according to the managing director of the NPA is now being re-valued to take into consideration the cost of relocating the pipelines and electric cables constituting obstruction to the work.
According to her, “I was at the site some weeks ago and we observed that the gas pipelines were obstructing the work. It was agreed that the pipelines had to be relocated.
“They have moved from one stage of the job to the other and the challenge now is with the relocation of the facilities,” Usman averred.
