Truck drivers operating at the Lagos ports have again accused the Presidential Task Team (PTT) on the Restoration of Law and Order in Apapa of being the cause of the lingering congestion at the Lagos port.
Despite efforts put in place by the government to rid Apapa of gridlock, traffic situation has remained unabated.
Shipping Position Daily recalls that the PTT was set up by the Federal Government in May, 2019 with the mandate to restore sanity into the port environment. However, one year after the initial three weeks’ ultimatum, the presidential task team is yet to resolve the perennial congestion problem.
Truckers have renewed their allegation that due to the juicy pecuniary gains which the task team gets through extortion of truck drivers, the task team is beginning to see itself as an agency of the government rather than an interventionist body with specific mandate and deliverable.
Speaking to Shipping Position Daily, the National Coordinator, Save Nigeria Freight Forwarders, Dr Osita Chukwu lamented that since the emergence of the PTT, nothing has been done to abate congestion at the port, describing the PTT as a total failure.
Chukwu alleged that, due to the pecuniary gains that the PTT gets from the port industry, the team has decided to extend their tenure.
According to him, “The Presidential Task Team has failed, they have compromised, what the head of the task team is now looking for is to seek for appointment as head of an agency, so I will say they have failed”, he said.
However, speaking recently with Shipping Position Daily, the acting chairman Board of Trustees of Council of Maritime Transport Union and Associations (COMTUA); Mr. Aloga Ogbogo also blamed the security operatives attached to the PTT for one of the reasons the issue of congestion has remained in the port environment.
Aloga said there is need for the Presidential Task Team to improve on the mandate to restore peace and order around Apapa Port.
He further listed the factors responsible for persistent gridlock in the port to include: shunting of trucks that are not called-up, preferential treatment given to the highest bidders by the security operatives, inefficiency of the shipping companies and terminal operators in handling empty containers, lack of space to stack empty containers.
The delay in the construction of Apapa/Oshodi expressway, according to him, is another factor that hampers free flow of traffic along the port corridor.
In a chat with our correspondent the former Vice Chairman of National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) Dry Cargo Section, Abdullahi Inuwa, he opined that the presidential task team has delivered on its mandate, while blaming human factors for the persistent gridlock.
“I will not say that the PTT have not delivered on its mandate, but I will say the reason we have congestion at the port is as a result of some human factors, that is not to say there should not be room for improvement, but I can tell you the PTT have been up and doing, but there is room to do better”.
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