Apapa Gridlock: Dangote Commends Task Team for Creating Special Window for Importers

The Managing Director of Greenview Development Nigerian Limited (GDNL) owned by Dangote Ports Operations, Mr Akin Omole has commended a special window created by the Presidential Task Team on Restoration of Law in Apapa for creating a special window for manufactures to load their cargoes unhindered.

The GDNL is occupied by Dangote Sugar, Dangote Salt, Gypsum and so on.

Omole while speaking with journalists inside the terminal at the weekend said that a special window between 12am and 3am was created for the manufacturers to bring in their trucks and take delivery of their cargoes.

He noted that before the window, the situation was terrible, but after the window, there were improvement in her operations.

He called for more cohesiveness and synergy among government agencies in order to achieve a significant improvement in access and exit of trucks at the port.

According to him, the primary problems of the terminal is the congestion on the port access roads which affects operations inside the terminal.

“The primary problem of the congestion is that it impacts the entire supply chain and port operations, take for instance, if a vessel is alongside with 40mt of cargo and the trucks that are supposed to come and take the cargo are not able to access the port, the vessel would be there longer than necessary”

“And as you know, the longer the vessel stays in port, the more demurrage it pays, it is not only containers that pay demurrage, vessels also pay demurrage in dollars”

“I believe that with the intervention of the task team that the federal government constituted with the collaboration of the Nigerian Ports Authority NPA and the Shippers Council, I believe that if there could be a lot more cohesiveness and synergy among these agencies, we would achieve a significant improvement in access and exit of trucks at the port”

“The window being referenced is the one given to manufacturers, occupants of GDNL terminal E are mostly manufacturers; Dangote Group”

“We were given a window between 12 and 3am for us to bring in our trucks.
Sometimes, everything goes as planned and we are able to bring in as many trucks as we can muster, some other time, the road gets very chaotic” Omole said

He however lamented insecurity on the waterfronts, saying that sea robbers usually come to the terminal from snake island and ogogoro village to steal parts of trucks, batteries among others.