The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) said on Tuesday that the perennial traffic situation in Apapa is traceable to the dependence on articulated vehicles to evacuate both dry and wet cargoes out of the ports.
President of the Chamber, Mr Babatunde Ruwase, stated this during a visit to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Tuesday in Abuja.
He stated that in order to solve the problem, there is to use rail, so that rail lines can be used to move the goods out of Apapa and free the roads.
The LCCI president submitted that, using the road will not help because when the roads are repaired today, they can go bad again because of the abuse and weight of the products.
“We said that to solve the Apapa gridlock, we should use rail to bring out products’’
“The rail lines are there, because the rail lines were constructed to take out raw materials in those days.
“Probably, the places have been built up but they should be opened up so that we can use the rail to move all those property from Apapa to various areas.
He recalled that there was a time that pipelines were being used to move petroleum products to and from the depots.
According to him, “there used to be pipelines used to move petroleum products out of the ports in those days to various NNPC depots around Nigeria’’
“It is because of failure of this that we started using tank farms near the ports.
“If you can use those pipelines, we would not have all those problems.
“So trailers (articulated vehicles) can go to the closest deports around their area.’’
Responding, Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo assured the LCCI that the Federal Government is currently collaborating with the private sector to resolve the gridlock that is crippling economic activities in Apapa, Lagos.
Osinbajo said the present administration, in line with its Economic Recovery and Growth Plan, would continue to ensure the implementation of policies to drive socio-economic growth and prosperity.
“I think that no one is in doubt that we have very great policies and we will ensure that these things are implemented and are done as faithfully as possible,” he said.
The Vice President also said the private sector in Nigeria would continue to play a prominent role in the economic programmes and initiatives of the administration.
He noted the significance of private sector investment in the economy, adding that collaboration between the Federal Government and the private sector would further boost the country’s economic progress.
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