The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) on Wednesday said that the concessionaires at Apapa port had invested N30.5 billion on infrastructure and development since the port was concessioned in 2006. The Ports Manager, Lagos Ports Complex, Mr Joshua Asanga disclosed this to newsmen during the tour of the port complex by the NPA Managing Director, Malam Habib Abdullahi.
In a breakdown of the investments of each concessionaire, Asanga said that AP Moller Terminal had invested almost N18 billion in ports infrastructure since 2006. He said that this was the highest investment among the concessionaires, followed by Apapa Bulk Terminal Ltd. which had invested N7.05 billion. The port manager said that the third highest investor among the private operators was ENL Consortium with N3.9 billion.
According to Asanga, the fourth highest investor is Greenview Development Nigeria Ltd. (GDNL) with N1.7 billion investment in ports infrastructure and development. Speaking during the tour, the Managing Director of GDNL, Malam Abba Bukar said that the terminal operators would have achieved more since the concession agenda of 2006 if not for their challenges. “The port access roads and approaches are in deplorable conditions. Trucks breakdown easily. Some, park trucks on the main roads, use it as holding bay, carry out repair works and illegal fuelling on the access roads,’’ Bukar said. The GDNL managing director said that all the illegal practices on the access roads created unending traffic congestion, thereby making accessibility to the port extremely difficult.
“It also affects turnaround time of trucks and ultimately vessels,’’ he said. Bukar decried the lack of an enabling law for the ports environment, especially the non-passage of the This implies an absence of any enabling law to provide legal support to the millions of investments already made in the port from 2006 till date,’’ he said.
According to Bukar, the ports environment could also benefit from provision of electricity and water. He asked the Federal Government to address the challenges of lack of an intermodal transport system. He said that there was an urgent need to develop the rail transport system and inland waterways so as to move large volumes of cargo and thus reducing the burden on roads. The GDNL chief lamented the present tariff structure laid down by the NPA.
“Presently, the approved rate of cargo dues is 4.40 dollars for bulk cargo; out of this, one dollar goes to NPA as cargo throughput fee, one dollar or more for lease fee, stevedoring, Ultimately, leaving little or nothing for infrastructure development, wages and maintenance,’’ the News Agency of Nigeria quotes Bukar as saying. In his response, the NPA Managing director said that the organisation was expediting action on improving infrastructure at the ports. He said that by the end of the month, some progress would have been made in the port environment. Abdullahi said that indeed, the port environment was overstretched and encouraged the private terminal operators to partner with government in the new ports coming up in Lagos.
