The management of the newly-concessioned Tin Can truck park; MOB Enterprises Limited has decried low patronage at the park which according to them is supposed to be getting high volume of vehicular traffic due to the location and its proximity to the ports.
The Public Relations Officer of MOB, who said this in a chat with Shipping Position Daily at Tin Can Island last week, blamed the chaotic traffic situation at the axis and trucks driving against the traffic to access the terminals as the major cause.
He said that the situation has made it difficult for trucks in the park to exit, even as he said that the park was formally opened last Thursday.
“You know trucks have been here since November last year and it has been free of charge until last Thursday and they just pay N5000 as they come in. You know this is a transit park, it is not just a park where you will park your truck for a long time, you are expected to come in park for a small time and go into the terminal”
“But because of some logistics issues in the terminal, traffic on the road, you are aware that trucks drive against the traffic just to enter the terminal and they also drive through the service lane to enter the terminal. So the way through which trucks exit this park is also affected due to all these factors. So for now we are making it a flat rate of N5000, though there is going to be demurrage with time”
He however reiterated that another major reason the park is not getting the needed patronage is because truckers feel that they can settle the security agents on the roads and have their ways.
“The major challenge, like I told you is the trucks going out of out from the park into the ports. The ones driving against the traffic on the bridge are supposed to enter into this park. The traffic at the second gate roundabout is not giving priority to this park as it should have. These people taking one way and service lane are obstructing people using this park. The reason they have not been giving priority to this park is maybe they feel that nothing much is coming from our park to whoever”.
Also speaking, the Chairman Dry Cargo Section of the Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO), Alhaji Abdullahi Inuwa commended the management of the park for the orderliness at the park.
He also urged them to seek for cooperation from other agencies like the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) and shipping companies to make the park more efficient.
“The management of the truck park is trying. When you look at the place, it is so orderly and they arrange it in a manner that even the truckers will be willing to pass through there, because there is orderliness and the drivers appreciate that. There are so many measures put in place by the park manager”
Also speaking the chairman of Corporate Fleet Owners, Mr. Leye Thompson said, “they have added value to the place because I know before now the toilet and other facilities are not functioning, but now they have functional toilets and there is power and security there. So if they want to charge money, we don’t have issues with that, but the charges should not be abnormal. They should be looking at between N2000 to N3000”, he advised.
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