(Lagos Nigeria)-The Ongoing Construction work going on at Apapa/Wharf Road has caused heavy traffic on the Road. Exporters who are not finding the situation funny has lamented that the situation has caused a delay in shipment and congestion at the ports.
Exporters unable to meet up with their contractual obligations and huge capital been tied up in banks. As shipment that should take one day was beginning to take five days or more.
The Chairman, Seaport Terminal Operators of Nigeria, Mrs. Ify Haastrup, had expressed fears that there might be congestion at the port due to the ongoing palliative work being done on the Apapa Ijora/Wharf road. She explained that it was difficult for containers to enter the ports because empty containers that had been offloaded were unable to get out due to the traffic situation.
According to an exporter, he said “When we should have shipped more, we are shipping less. There are so many warehouses filled with goods that should have been exported. And when these goods stay too long in the warehouses, they lose their original value. This is impacting negatively on our earnings suggesting that alternative ports should be used for the exportation of goods instead of Apapa.
The National President, National Cashew Association of Nigeria, Mr. Tola Faseru, suggested that the government should establish a base outside the port where goods coming in should be taken for the owners to pick them up and a place where empty containers should be deposited, so as to ease the traffic situation at the ports.
