LCCI deplores deplorable state of roads leading to Lagos ports
The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, a foremost chamber of commerce in Nigeria and a strong voice for the organized private sector in the country has, once again, raised its voice against the very deplorable state of the roads that lead to the Apapa and Tincan Island ports in Lagos.
The immediate past president of the Chamber, Dr. Mrs. Nike Akande, CON, expressed the Chamber’s displeasure at this development in her valedictory annual report of the Chamber for the 2106/2017 fiscal year at its Annual General Meeting which held earlier, today at the Commerce House head office of the Chamber on Idowu Taylor Street, Victoria Island.
According to Akande, “These two ports account for over 60% of the cargo into the country and an estimated 70% of customs revenue”, adding, “the poor state of the roads has had multifarious effects on the private sector, the economy and even the citizens”.
For effect, she went further to highlight some of the negative effects of this development to include: risk to the lives of citizens arising from containers falling off the trucks as a result of bad roads with several lives having been lost in recent past in this regard; congestion at the ports resulting from delays in the evacuation of cargo from the ports; high demurrage paid by importers to Terminal Operators and Shipping Companies as a result of delays in clearance and evacuation of cargo in the ports; high cost of transportation for evacuating cargo because of prolonged engagement of the trucks by importers arising from delays; serious traffic congestion along the roads leading to the ports, which often spills over into the Lagos metropolis, causing severe traffic jam and loss of man hours in Lagos; and delays in getting raw materials and other inputs from the ports o the factory premises in Lagos and other parts of the country.
While acknowledging the steps being taken to fix the roads, Akande stressed the need for urgent palliative measures to sustain movement of traffic in the axis.
It would be recalled that Chief Mrs. Akande got elected President of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry in 2015 and has piloted the affairs of the Chamber for two years, an experience which she described as both challenging and exciting.
The corporate Amazon stepped down earlier, today, after the Chamber’s Annual General Meeting at which her successor, Mr. Babatunde Paul Ruwase, FCA was elected as her successor.
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