Truck terminal will decongest seaports – Transport Minister

Lagos: Transport Minister Idris Umar on Thursday said the establishment of a truck terminal in Lagos would decongest the seaports, adjoining roads and the environs.

Umar, who was represented by Alhaji Omar Suleiman, Managing Director of Nigerian Ports Authority, said this in Lagos at a one-day workshop on “Logistics and Supply Chain Management in Apapa and Tin-Can Ports”.

The theme of the workshop was “Challenges and Opportunities of a Modern Truck Terminal/Holding Bay in Lagos’.

According to him, the timing of the workshop cannot be better than now as it availed the stakeholders the opportunity to address a critical issue in the maritime transport logistics supply chain management.

“The idea of a modern truck terminal/holding bay in Ilu-Eri, Ijora, Lagos being promoted by the Association of Maritime Truck Owners (AMATO) has become germane,’’ he said.

Umar said that the truck terminal would put a stop to illegal parking of trucks on the highways.

“Roads and bridges engender the development of economic activities in the various geo-economic zones,’ he said.

He recalled that Federal Ministry of Transport had supported the AMATO initiative as far back as 2009.

The minister said that one of his predecessors facilitated it with a letter to the Lagos State Government to secure a land for the construction of the dedicated modern truck terminal.

He said that the terminal was meant to be within a proximate location to the port complex.

Umar said that non-availability of a modern and well-managed truck terminal around the ports had created challenges to traffic management, security of lives and property and regulation of traffic.

He called on all stakeholders, especially the Nigeria Ports Authority, consumers of shipping services, enforcement agencies and financial institutions to identify with the project.

The minister said that this would go a long way in easing the chaotic traffic situation in and around the port complex.

The Chairman of AMATO, Chief Remi Ogungbemi,  said that the volume of activities at the ports necessitated the need for a modern truck terminal.

Ogungbemi said that with increased population, vehicular increase and cargo handling activities, a truck terminal should be established, adding that a situation where trucks littered roads leading into the ports was not in the best interest of truck operators.

The workshop was jointly organised by AMATO, Ports Consultative Council (PCC) and Meeno CEO Partners. (NAN)