The Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria, MWUN, yesterday, gave the Federal Government a 21-day ultimatum to rehabilitate and make the Oshodi-Apapa Dual Carriage Way and the access roads leading to the nation’s sea ports motor-able.
Also, Customs clearing agents and Amalgamation of Trucking Associations will from today shut down process of clearance of goods from the Lagos ports and evacuation of cargoes by withdrawing their services over port access roads that are not motor-able and other difficulties faced at the ports.
MWUN ultimatum
The President of MWUN, Prince Adewale Adeyanju, gave the ultimatum while responding to questions from newsmen in Lagos.
He said that it was sad that the access roads to the ports were in a deplorable condition.
Adeyanju said that the union was worried that the access roads to the nation’s seaports and the Oshodi-Apapa Dual Carriage Way that leads to Apapa and Tin-Can Ports had been abandoned.
He said: “It is sad that the gateway to the nation’s economy is abandoned. We have written several letters including issuance of ultimatums over these roads to no avail.’We can no longer live with the abandonment of access roads to the ports which have been in the state of disrepair for years in spite of efforts to draw government’s attention to the need to fix them.”
‘We can no longer live with the abandonment of access roads to the ports which have been in the state of disrepair for years in spite of efforts to draw government’s attention to the need to fix them.”
The union president said that for a long time, the Oshodi-Apapa Dual Carriage Way, as well as other port access roads, had become death traps to road users.
He said that the roads had been recording fatal accidents on a daily basis, and in December 2016, the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) said that the contract for rehabilitation of the Dual Carriage Way had been awarded.
He further said that last week, NPA wrote again to the union that contracts had been awarded for the rehabilitation of the roads.
“If after three months to six months, the rehabilitation project does not start, we shall be compelled to take necessary action without further notice,” the union leader said.