Clearing Agents, Truck Owners Continues Strike Despite FG intervention
Despite assurance by the Federal Government to provide palliative measures on the dilapidated Oshodi-Apapa Express-Way pending full rehabilitation, clearing agents and truck owners operating at the seaports failed to call off their indefinite strike.
Recall that clearing agents, Truck owners and drivers have embarked on an indefinite strike over the statement o the road.
The FG through the Managing Director of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Ms Hadiza Bala Usman who had pleaded with the aggrieved clearing agents and truck owners to call off their strike action said major reconstruction work to completely overhaul the deplorable Apapa Wharf will commence next month.
The National Publicity Secretary, Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) Kayode Farinto said the agents will not call off the strike until immediate measures to fix the roads are put in place.
Farinto said until construction equipment are rolled out Clearing agents won’t back down on the action.
He said, “The strike continues, we will not call off the until an immediate measures to fix the roads are put in place and the CGC of Customs, Hameed Ali is ready to address other challenges militating cargo clearance apart from the problem of bad roads.”
Ms Usman said the reconstruction which will gulp N4billion would be don within 10months.
Ms Hadiza stated this yesterday when she undertook an inspection tour of the failed port access roads at Tin can Island and Coconut axis following the strike action embarked upon by clearing agents and truck owners over the deplorable port access roads.
She described the deplorable port access road as a huge embarrassment to the country owing considering the amount of revenue generated from the port.
She said NPA has also make provision for the construction of the road in its 2017 budget with the sum of N4billion adding that NPA has agreed to commence on the full reconstruction of the wharf road in collaboration with Dangote group and Flour mills jointly funding the project.
“The roads are under the purview of the Federal Ministry of Powers, Works and Housing. We have held several meetings with the ministry and we have come to an agreement that the NPA will jointly fund for the reconstruction of these roads.
“The ministry will be submitting to the the Federal Executive Council at Wednesday (tomorrow) meeting to seek council’s approval to embark on the reconstruction of wharf road.
“We believe that these roads are priority to us. So we have identified budgetary heads for them and we are going to budgets for them inspite of the fact that they are not under our purview. So we are commencing with that.
“The NPA will provide funding for that road in conjunction with the two bodies,” she said.
She said the reconstruction work will be carried out within 10 months.
According to her, the width of the roads will be 12 metres with full utilities deployed and will have a life span of 30 years when completed.
“It is going to be a concrete road that will have a lifespan of 30 years. The project we commence within this month. We are going to sign an agreement with the Federal Ministry of Works, Dangote and Flour mills on the implementation of the project and they have confirmed that the reconstruction will be embarked upon for 10 months period so we believe that this wharf road will be able to reach conclusion within this year, ” she said.
She added that ministry of works has also agreed to provide the final engineering designs for Creek and Liverpool roads also to be funded by NPA.
On the construction of holding bays for trucks, the NPA boss said the authority will engage the service of a private company to develop and manage the holding bays.
