By Gabriel Ewepu

FOLLOWING recent fire outbreaks at the nation’s seaports, the founder and Chief Executive Officer, Safewater Energy and Environmental Restoration Limited, SWEERGLOBAL, Dr Thaddeaus Thompson, has urged the Federal Government to focus more on prevention measures against fire outbreaks at the seaports to restore investors’ confidence.

Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Safewater Energy and Environmental Restoration Limited, SWEERGLOBAL, Dr Thaddaeus Thompson

Thompson expressed concern over poor measures on prevention against fire outbreaks, which he said needs proper attention in order to forestall future occurrences.

According to him “Preventing fire outbreaks at Nigerian seaports should be regarded as a litmus test”, because investors use port facilities a lot and if the government fails to understand that the nation’s seaports are the gateway to the economy the country will lose a lot of investors.”

It will be recalled that on January 2, 2019 fire outbreak occurred at the popular Container Complex around the PTML Terminal in Apapa, Lagos, where port operators lost one of the container-offices and razing over 40 others.

He said: “Preventing fire outbreaks at Nigerian sea ports should be regarded as a litmus test on whether investors can trust Nigerian seaports as a doorway to doing business with Nigeria.

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“Seaports must be well-protected against destruction, particularly fires. Fire is one of the most unpredictable dangers that can ruin even the best coordinated venture.

“First thing to know is that businesses take risks, but investors do not. If you cannot explain to investors what you plan to do in case of a fire outbreak and how your plan minimizes or eliminates damage, your chances of attracting investors will be limited.” Thompson also stated that it has become necessary to strictly implement all safety standards at the nation’s seaports in order to eliminate damages and colossal losses.

He stated: “Implementing safety standards, such as regular checks on goods, content composition, temperature of storage units, electrical connections/installations, state of firefighting equipment, and professionalism of fire fighters are some of the basic measures to prevent fire outbreaks at the seaports.”