NPA union tells FG to fix Tin Can, Apapa ports roads

Apapa/Tin Can Island road

The Senior Staff Union of Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) on Wednesday called on the Federal Government to fix the bad roads leading into the Tin-Can and Apapa ports.

The President of the union, Mr. Benson Adegbeyeni, made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.

He said the poor state of most port access roads in Apapa had greatly impeded easy movement of people and consignments as well as undermine economic activities at the ports.

“Most of the ports access roads are in bad state and the situation is affecting business at the ports as well as the economy.

“I mean, people cannot move in and out of the ports freely because of this problem; consignments fall off from articulated vehicles, leading to great losses in goods and lives.

“The roads are strategic to the economy as the ports are one of the cash cows of the nation. So, the government should muster enough will to fix the problem to boost activities at the ports,” he said.

Adegbeyeni said the bad roads had impacted negatively on the health of port users and workers, including staff of NPA who were daily trapped in the resultant gridlock.

He said the union had interacted with the Minister of Works, Power and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola and that of Transportation, Mr Rotimi Amaechi and would sustain the interaction until the problem was solved.

The unionist said the recent rehabilitation work done on some of the access roads by some private operators for some government waivers had not produced the desired results., adding that government should take over the projects.