LAGOS: Rail line construction poses fresh threat to cargo clearing at Apapa Ports

IMPORTERS and licensed Customs agents at the Lagos Port Complex, Apapa, have pleaded with the contractor handling construction of the rail line, the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) to avoid disrupting the movement of containers in and out of the port.

The importers and clearing agents said when CCECC mobilised to site last month, they were unable to conclude their transactions, while loaded trucks could not exit the port. This was because the contractor’s operation blocked the container terminal truck exit gate and began demolition of structures in the terminal.

Reportedly, the blockade also made it impossible for empty trucks to enter the terminal to pick up containers for delivery to their owners.

Disruptions of services at the ports, said the ports users, would further increase the cost of clearing and prices of goods in the market, and thereby worsen inflation in the country and compound the Apapa gridlock, the port users believe.