By Steve Agbota
the Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Mohammed Bello-Koko is leading the operation of ridding the Tincan Island Port access road of illegal check/extortion points and shanties that impeded the free flow of traffic.
Speaking during an unscheduled spot check, Mohammed Bello Koko said; “our zero tolerance for all forms of impediments to free flow of traffic is no fluke, and we are poised to consolidate the gains we have recorded first in Apapa and now Tincan. We are grateful to the Minister of Marine & Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola and the Lagos State Governor for the tremendous support we have received in this regard.
“Ports access roads are international corridors, which means traffic gridlock along such sensitive road networks apart from negating port productivity is an international embarrassment that requires the synergy of all stakeholders to tackle sustainably. Although the causes of the gridlock are rooted in factors external to NPA, we have a duty as the gateway to the national economy to take the front line role in tackling this menace,” he said.
On the menace of refuse debris blocking the drainages, Bello Koko said “although i have directed our relevant in-house department to commence desilting of the drainages and clearance of the refuse, we will enlist the cooperation and intensify synergy with Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) and the Federal Ministry of Works under whose purview waste and road management resides to arrest the ugly trend”.
NPA recently received the commendation of National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) for clearing the perennial traffic gridlock that hitherto made ingress and egress of Lagos Ports of Apapa and Tincan difficult.