Barely two years after the MRS tank farm’s jetty exploded when it was discharging products into its tank close to the Grimaldi terminal at the Tin Can Island Port, there are indications that port operators may not have recovered fully from the shock and the trauma caused by the pandemonium.
Barely two years after the MRS tank farm’s jetty exploded when it was discharging products into its tank close to the Grimaldi terminal at the Tin Can Island Port, there are indications that port operators may not have recovered fully from the shock and the trauma caused by the pandemonium.
In a fresh call for the immediate relocation of the fuel depot from the port area, operators have said that the tank farm as well as many others spread across Coconut and Kirikiri area of Apapa is a menace to port operations, saying that relocation remains the only way out.
Speaking with Shipping Position Daily at the PTML Port located directly beside the MRS Tank Farm last week, the newly-elected PTML Chapter Chairman of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) Eze Elect Goodluck Onunji lamented that the continuous staying of MRS Depot at the PTML Port has continued to result into delays in delivery of cargoes to the target market.
He lamented that after cargoes exit the PTML port, it takes about four hours before they can negotiate their way out of the Tin Can Island port area. This according to him is due to the long queue of petroleum tankers struggling on the same roads with the container trucks. Shipping Position Daily also noted that whenever the depot is loading products, truck queues normally spill over to the expressway thereby inhibiting free flow of traffic.
“The tank farm contributes to the gridlock at the port, most of the time, you may close at the port by 6 pm, but you will not leave until 8 o’clock or sometimes 10 o’clock. I will suggest for government to relocate the tank farms somewhere else; this will further help in facilitating trade” he said.
Continuing, the NAGAFF chieftain pointed out that access into the port areas are supposed to be hitche-free, he urged government to take a cue from developed countries where tank farms are relocated far from residential areas. He said that there are land in Badagry, Epe and Ikorodu axis of Lagos where the depots can transfer their operations to.
“We are not supposed to have any hiccup in trying to access the port, it is supposed to be a straight forward place where you transact your business and go, I will suggest that the tank farm should be relocated to Badagry, Ikorodu or to Epe, and there is still land in those areas”
“What matters is not to be at the port, but to be where people can reach you, and I know that there is nowhere tank farms can be in Lagos that they will not be located; Lagos is a trade hub in Nigeria”
“Activities of the tank farm usually affect trucks coming to take delivery at the port because when they park waiting for their turn, they will be delayed and there is nothing you can do”
Onunji also revealed that activities of tanker drivers operating at the MRS tank farms have led to so many confrontations between them and operators around PTML, and that, in most cases the police had to intervene to restore law and order.
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