The Federal Government is losing over N10 billion daily to the Apapa Wharf gridlock, President of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, disclosed this yesterday after a government/private sector meeting presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.
Dangote is to complete the reconstruction of Apapa Wharf Road by June 2018.
Addressing State House reporters, he said: “Apapa-Oworoshoki Way is going to start next week. Everything, including the design, has been handed over. We will start work next week.
“The bidding process is going to go on where four, five contractors will bid. Anybody that wins the contract, we will fund the project under the agreement that we have. You have to understand that Apapa and Tin Can Island Ports handle about 80 percent of the cargoes that come into Nigeria.
“As we speak, some of our ships are waiting to come in from Lome and discharge. It is not because we don’t have anywhere to birth the ship but because all our operations are choked up because we have containers, general cargoes that have actually been there and we are not able to remove.
“But I am more worried about the smaller operators because for those that have imported, the charges are accumulating everyday. Transport charge has almost doubled.”
The chairman of the Nigerian Ports Authority, Hadiza Usman, said stakeholders agreed on the need for all tank farms owners to comply with the utilisation of holding bays.
“No more approvals of tank farms will be permitted within the Apapa area any longer,” she said.
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