The Minister of Transportation Rt. Hon Rotimi Amaechi, has assured Nigerians and Motorist plying the Tin can Island Port (TCIP) , that the heavy vehicular gridlock which has been an impediment to Movement of goods and services in and out of the Port will cease within a week , as prompt action is been taken to address the issue .
The Minister who spoke while on an Inspection in the Port along side, Permanent Secretary Ministry of Transportation, (Magdalene Ajani), MD, Nigeria Ports Authority , (Hadiza Bala Usman ) , Executive Secretary Nigerian Shippers council ,(Hassan Bello), promised to come up with a better solution in addressing the problem .
“Give us one week to evaluate the problem and come up with a better solution “ Amaechi State.
When asked by correspondent of Aspheric on her opinion concerning the gridlock , the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Transportation, Dr Magdalene Ajani, said that the Electronic call up that is been designed, will not only address the gridlock but also regulate the movement of trucks into the port on call up basis .
“We all went there and as you can see that its on a complete lockdown, people cant go in or come in. the whole of that road is completely lock down , we have to go into a meeting now to see how best we can sort that out now.
And hopefully with the discussion that is ongoing. Nigerian ports authority is relying on the electronic call up and the ministry of works truck park that is just by Tin Can there and the one Lagos State government park” Ajani reiterated.
Also reacting to the gridlock , the Executive Secretary of Nigerian Shippers Council Hassan Bello , said that all hands are on desk With the Minister of Transportation, in finding a lasting solution to the problem .
“We are looking at the solution everyday, and the time has come, we are working on the possible ways to ease traffic, this is December and a lot of cars will be on the road, so I think the solution is aid those in cargo to have a hinge free activities within this period” Hassan said .
Also reacting , the MD Nigeria Ports authority , Hadiza Bala Usman , said that an E-commerce system to serve as a communication system for the Port , is been designed and will be ready in 2021 , the communication system will reduce traffic on the road .
“We are planning to deploy an e commerce system in 2021 which will provide electronic communication at designated truck park, to ease truck parking on the road so hence forth the e commerce system will come like an app where you download it on your phone and communicate easily when your truck has arrived. You can use it to know when a truck has been assigned to you.
“This will be in partnership with the Lagos Government, the Lagos state government are providing a large truck parking in Orile where we field them information on truck accessing port, the trucks will come in either Tin can Ireland and only go when the cargo is ready. The e commerce will also reduce human intervention; several layers of personnel across Nigerian security, Nigerian police force and all the other officers tend to engage in corrupt practices by collecting money, so this E call up will remove human intervention. That way a contravene will have no business with any bribe activity.
“All you have to do is on your phone which you will scan at the entrance of the gate before they enable you move in. in the mean time we are going to make sure that the port acesss is going to be stream lined for cargo that are coming in this xmas period so that we can push as much as possible in partnership with PPA in Lagos” Hadiza stated.
