The National Council of Managing Director of Licensed Customs Agents (NCMDLCA) has accused the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) of being responsible for the current chaotic traffic gridlock affecting major routes connecting the two seaports in Lagos State.
National President of the association; Mr. Lucky Amiwero disclosed this on Monday when he was guest on our radio programme, Shipping Position Live on Star FM101.5 in Lagos.
The National Council of Managing Director of Licensed Customs Agents (NCMDLCA) has accused the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) of being responsible for the current chaotic traffic gridlock affecting major routes connecting the two seaports in Lagos State.
National President of the association; Mr. Lucky Amiwero disclosed this on Monday when he was guest on our radio programme, Shipping Position Live on Star FM101.5 in Lagos.
Amiwero said the port Act stipulates that it is the duty of the NPA to maintain all major roads connecting the seaports and to also control traffic within some distance away from the ports.
According to him, section 32, sub section A, states categorically that the agency is responsible for some sanity within the port environment, he argued that NPA should be blamed for the traffic gridlock, because according to him, the agency has abandoned that critical aspect of its duty.
"We have written overtime because one of the critical issues that has to do with the gridlock is the responsibility of Nigeria Ports Authority, because under section 32 of the port Act, sub section A, the Nigeria Port Authority are the ones that are suppose to control the traffic thus maintain and manage."
"The laws states that they should maintain, control and manage traffic that are inside the ports and their approaches, and invariably NPA has a major role to play"
“Our law empowers the NPA to maintain the port access roads; Section 34A of the NPA Act says they are to regulate traffic within the ports and port access roads. The problem of traffic in Apapa is on the port access roads; so, the NPA has not played its role.
“It collects about four per cent of the seven per cent of the Port Development Levy; that money should be used to develop the port access roads. Any issue concerning the ports, the NPA has 90 per cent role to play.”
He added, “It is the duty of the Ministry of Transport and the NPA to maintain and control traffic into the ports. The Nigerian ports are under the national grid and so is the NPA. If there is anything around the port environment that will cause traffic, it is the duty of the NPA to take care of the problem.
"All the potholes you have around the areas are under ports approaches and it is critically an NPA issue because it has to do with transport"
"We will continue to fight for the interest of the economy and to make sure that things work out for industry",Amiwero stated.
Speaking further the NCMDLCA boss, noted that other ministry like that of Petroleum Resources as work also have their own portions of the blame, but, he maintained that the Nigeria Ports Authority is supposed to be in the forefront of finding solution to the gridlock.
He said that poor state of the roads linking the ports in Lagos would have been averted, if NPA is maintaining , controlling and managing the access routes.
Still speaking on the recent appointment of new leaders for the association, Amiwero stated that the council is a professional organisation and not an association like other freight forwarding bodies.
He noted that the group is out to protect the interest of Chief Executive Officers of licensed customs agents, adding that the constitution of the association gives room for appointment of executives and not elections.
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