Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Monday, December 28th, 2020 embarked on an unplanned fact-finding visit to Apapa to ascertain the causes of incessant gridlock on roads leading to the seaports.
This is the fourth time the Governor and members of his State cabinet would be visiting Apapa over traffic congestion, which has impacted negatively on businesses and lives in the environ.
Sanwo-Olu said: “This is about the fourth time which my Government has been trying to address Apapa gridlock and bring sanity back to the area. On each occasion we had come here, we knew that there were road constructions. This time around, there has been a lot of improvement and we have seen that a lot of the roads within Apapa have been completed. But, there has been no respite for commuters in terms of free traffic flow.”
“Our plan is to bring about cohesive system where all stakeholders would understand their roles and resolve challenges being encountered. Since last year, the Presidential Taskforce has been working on this issue. Now, there is a process that is starting in which the State Government is taking over the task force. This is one of the reasons for this trip to Apapa today; to ascertain what needs to be done. We will have a team of policemen and LASTMA dedicated to Apapa Ports for enforcement of task force’s mandates.”
“Lagos State Government is not the owner of the ports whose operations is causing pain to residents, but we owe a duty to our citizens whose lives and businesses have been badly impacted because of the gridlocks created in this part of the State. I believe this trip would give us another opportunity where all of us, as stakeholders, will be able to identify impediments and resolve the issues once and for all.”
“We have arrested people we felt were operating illegal barge terminals before, but we were surprised some of these people had licences issued by the Federal Government. This is part of the issues we want to resolve. We are working collaboratively with the Federal Government on this. If someone gets an approval for barge operation, let Lagos Government be aware, so that roads are probably planned to those terminals.”
