Port Congestion Looms At Apapa Port Over Prolonged Closure of Marine Bridge
There are indications that the port terminals in Apapa may soon experience congestion, this is even as the Seaport Terminal Operators Association of Nigeria (STOAN) has said that the prolonged closure of a section of the outbound lane of Marine Bridge in Apapa, Lagos is slowing down the evacuation of already cleared cargoes from the Lagos Port Complex Apapa.
The Chairman of STOAN, Vicky Haastrup, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday.
Haastrup appealed to the government to speed up ongoing repairs on the bridge to ensure its prompt reopening.
She also expressed worry about the frequent partial closure of the busy bridge.
Haastrup said the bridge has experienced prolonged partial and intermittent closures over the past two years without noticeable appreciable progress of the repair work being done.
According to her, the comprehensive repair work of the Third Mainland Bridge, which is longer than the Marine Bridge, was carried out within five months while that of the Marine Bridge has been ongoing for more than two years.
The STOAN Chairman, while commending the government’s effort to keep the bridge in good shape, said its prolonged closure, “in addition to slowing down the evacuation of cargo from the port, is also making movement difficult for port workers and Apapa residents,”
“The bridge is very strategic to operations at the nation’s largest seaport. Its partial closure has affected the movement of trucks in and out of the port,”
“We all know that trucks remain the primary means of cargo evacuation from the seaports. When there is no free flow of traffic, cargoes are held up in the port and when this happens, it impacts negatively on economic activities in the country,” Haastrup stated.
She maintained that cargo backups at the ports lead to port congestion which affects vessels’ turnaround time.
“Cargo backlogs at the port inevitably lead to port congestion and vessel queue. Port congestion would also mean that importers and agents would have to pay more to clear their cargoes from the port, the cost of which would eventually be borne by the masses,” she explained.
The STOAN boss appealed to the government to hasten the repair works at the bridge.
“We therefore appeal to the government to hasten work on the repair of the closed section of the bridge to avoid port congestion and reduce the sufferings of commuters,” the STOAN boss said