Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State has promised to restore life back to Apapa, considering the disturbing gridlock created along Apapa corridor by heavy-duty trucks clogging the major highways in the state.
The Governor disclosed this on Sunday, August 9th, 2020 during an inspection tour of projects and infrastructure on the Apapa corridor to ease traffic congestion in the area.
Sanwo-Olu said; “There is need to overhaul the terminal system at the ports, there is no reason for the trucks to park on the highways if their dedicated terminals are operational. The State Government has made a request to the Federal Government to prevail on the concessionaire that will be operating the 700-truck capacity Lilypond Terminal at Apapa to open the facility for use without further delay.”
“The State Government has donated additional 30 hectares of land in Ijora area as part of the solutions initiated to address the problem, the land will expand the holding capacity of the Lilypond terminal.”
“Today, I have taken time to personally inspect some projects being developed both by the Federal and State governments to improve traffic around Constain, Iganmu, Apapa and Mile areas. The projects are initiated specifically to address the chaos created mainly by indiscriminate parking of trailers along the routes. Already, there is an ongoing rehabilitation work on Marine Bridge, where a stretch has completely been scarified.
“There is also a Lilypond Terminal, a major holding bay for heavy-duty trucks, which has not been operated after it was transferred to a concessionaire. We are aware that the concessionaire is meant to complete an agreement with NPA on the transfer of the facility. But, while this is being done, the Lagos Government has donated 30 hectares of land in Ijora to raise the capacity of the Lilypond Terminal.”
“These steps will be part of the solution of taking the trucks off the Apapa highways. When the rehabilitation work on Marine Bridge is completed in another four months, there will be improvement in journey time towards Apapa. We will also be having meeting with various stakeholders operating at the port, including the truck owners. The system needs a total overhaul. We need to agree and formalise the matrix of the trucks’ movement in and out of the port.”
“We need to set out our activities in a methodical order and see how we redevelop Apapa. There is a massive road construction that is going on in Apapa and the work is extensive. We are using concrete for roads that are being rebuilt. Liverpool and Creek roads have already been completed. By October, all the road network leading in and out of the port area would been opened up for public use.
“My message to our citizens residing and working on this corridor is that, we have assessed the issues and we will be meeting with various operators and stakeholders. We will fashion out how we will all work collaboratively to bring about an efficient system that will deliver permanent solution and diffuse the gridlock. This, we hope, will bring life back to Apapa.”
“The mess created under the Iganmu intersection has encroached the right-of-way of our rail project. In the next one month, we will be taking a decisive action to eject those creating illegal settlements under the bridge. We will give them notice of eviction and we will clean up the place. Once it is cleaned up, we will hand over the space to corporate organisations to restore the aesthetic of the environment.”
